UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA 
AT    LOS  ANGELES 


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THE  LITTLE   BLUE  FOX. 


{See  page  239) 


THE  BOOK 
OF  KNIGHT  AND  BARBARA 


BEING  A  SERIES  OF   STORIES 
TOLD  TO  CHILDREN 


DAVID  STARR  JORDAN 


CORRECTED  AND  ILLUSTRATED 
BY   THE    CHILDREN 


'7372^ 


NEW    YORK 
D.    APPLETON    AND    COMPANY 

1899 

FEB  ^1  lyOO 


Copyright,  1899, 
By   D.   APPLETON   AND   COMPANY. 


7 


TO 

THE  MANY  CHILDREN  OF  CALIFORNIA, 

WHO,    WITH 

KNIGHT  AND  BARBARA, 

HAVE    GIVEN    THIS    LITTLE    BOOK 
•  ITS  BEST  EXCUSE  FOR  BEING." 


PREFATORY  NOTE. 


The  only  apology  the  author  can  make  in  this 
case  is  that  he  never  meant  to  do  it.  He  had  told 
his  own  children  many  stories  of  many  kinds,  some 
original,  some  imitative,  some  travesties  of  the  work 
of  real  story-tellers.  Two  students  of  the  depart- 
ment of  Education  in  the  Stanford  University — Mrs. 
Louise  Maitland,  of  San  Jose,  and  Miss  Harriet 
Hawley,  of  Boston — asked  him  to  repeat  these  stories 
before  other  children.  Miss  Hawley,  as  a  stenogra- 
pher, took  them  do^vn  for  future  reference,  and 
while  the  author  was  absent  on  the  Bering  Sea  Com- 
mission of  1896  she  wrote  them  out  in  full,  thus 
forming  the  main  text  of  this  book.  Copies  of  the 
stories  were  placed  by  Mrs.  Maitland  in  the  hands 
of  hundreds  of  children,  most  but  not  all  of  them  in 
California.  These  drew  illustrative  pictures,  after 
their  fashion ;  and  from  the  multitude  secured,  Mrs. 
Maitland   chose   those  which    are   here  reproduced. 


yi  THE  BOOK  OF  KNIGHT  AND  BARBARA. 

The  scenes  in  the  stories  were  also  subjected  to  the 
criticisms  of  children,  and  in  many  cases  amended  to 
meet  their  suggestions.  Several  of  the  stories,  espe- 
cially the  classical  travesties,  would  not  be  printed 
were  it  not  for  the  children's  drawings.  These  pic- 
tures made  by  the  children  have  been  found  to 
interest  deeply  other  children,  a  fact  which  gives 
them  a  certain  value  as  original  documents  in  the 
study  of  the  working  of  the  child-mind.  At  the 
end  of  the  volume  are  added  a  few  true  stories, 
mostly  of  birds  and  of  beasts,  told  to  a  different 
audience.  With  these  are  a  few  drawings  by  Uni- 
versity students,  which  are  intended  to  assist  the 
imagination  of  child-readers.  "  The  Story  of  Bob," 
and  the  stories  of  "  Senor  Alcatraz,"  the  "  Little 
Blue  Fox,"  and  "  How  the  Red  Fox  went  Hunting  " 
are  reprinted,  by  the  courtesy  of  Dr.  William  Jay 
Youmans,  from  Appletons'  Popular  Science  Monthly, 
and  "  How  the  Commander  Sailed,"  from  the  Paci- 
fic Monthly,  by  the  courtesy  of  Mr.  W.  Bittle  Wells. 
The  indebtedness  of  the  author  to  Mrs.  Maitland 
and  to  Miss  Hawley  is  indicated  above. 

David  Staer  Jordan. 

Palo  Alto,  Cal.,  August  10,  1899. 


CONTENTS 


PAOB 

How  Barbara  came  to  Escondite 1- 

The  little  legs  that  ran  away 9 

.The  boy  that  whacked  ^he  witch's  toadstools      ....  13 

The  king  whose  eyes  were  opened 19 

The  genius  of  the  firecracker 24 

The  magic  thimble 30 

Una's  children  and  the  lion 34 

The  boy  and  girl  who  sailed  away 37 

In  Goblintown 45 

The  strange  rabbit 49 

The  king  that  had  no  castle 52 

The  six  kings  of  Yvetot 55 

The  ghost  with  the  horsehair  wig 56 

ivede-avede  and  the  dragons 59 

The   OGRE   THAT   PLAYED   JACKSTRAWS 67 

The  leprechaun  and  the  field  of  gold \.  75 

The  pooka  and  the  leprechaun .  80 

How  the  prince  learned  something  new 88 

The  boy-ghost  and  the  cow 94 

The  Otto-Heinrich  Tower 96 

Why  the  parrot  was  so  strong 101 

The  lost  Xenia 104 

The  wooden  horse 108 

The  dancing  shades Ill 

vii 


viii  THE  BOOK   OF  KNIGHT  AND  BARBARA. 

PAGE 

The  head  and  the  snakes 116 

How  the  Sphinx  told  riddles 122 

How  the  bird  Phcenix  built  its  nest 128 

Diogenes  and  the  naughty  boys 131 

How  WE  CAPTURED   TrOY 134 

The  eagle  and  the  blue-tailed  skink 138 

The  sea  horse  and* the  little  sea  ponies 141 

The  story  of  the  griffin 144 

How  the  little  boy  became  a  genius 166 

The  spider  that  caught  beasts 173 

How   THE   flounder's   MOUTH   WAS   TWISTED 177 

How   THE    SUN    BRINGS   THE  BIRTHDAYS   FROM    AtKA   AND   AtTU   .           .  180 

LORO  BONITO 182 

How   THE   RED   FOX  WENT   HUNTING 186 

scrymir  the  giant 190 

The  boys  that  played  leapfrog 199 

How  the  jellyfish  lost  his  bones 201 

The  story  of  Bob 208 

Fitzclarbnce  and  the  Blue  Dane 224 

Old  Sea  Catch  and  the  Red  Light 228 

The  baby  seal 236 

The  little  blue  fox 239 

SeSor  Alcatraz 242 

How  the  commander  sailed 247 

Cape  Cheerful 263 


THE  BOOK  OF  KNIGHT  AND  BARBARA. 


HOW  BAEBAHA  CAME  TO  ESCONDITE. 

737  2.      ^ 

ONCE    there    was    a    little    girl    and  she    lived 
all  alone   in  a  little  house  up   in  the  woods 
on  a  mountain,  and  the  little  house  wasn't  any  big- 


The  place  where  she  lived. 

ger  than  this  room,  but  it  had  in  it  a  kitchen  where 
she  did  her  cooking,  and  a  little  dining-room  where 


2  THE  BOOK  OF  KNIGHT  AND  BARBARA. 

i^he  ate  her  dinner,  and  a  little  bedroom  where  she  | 
slept.  The  little  bedroom  had  in  it  a  little  bed  for  ' 
the  little  girl  and  tiny  beds  for  her  dolls.  And 
there  were  tables,  dishes,  pictures  on  the  walls,  and 
little  electric  lights  to  light  up  her  room  with  when 
it  was  night  with  electricity  that  came  from  the 
lightning. 

The   little   girl   had   three   little  dolls,  and  one 
little  doll's  name  was  Marguerite,  and  she  had  red 


9^y^ 


-^  +  1-/ 


^  *^^\.        ^    ^ 


.    Dancing  fairies  on  the  green. 


V,":" 


hair  and  lots  of  it,  and  it  was  real  hair  too.  Another 
little  doll's  name  was  Sally,  and  she  had  black  hair — 
not  real  hair,  but  just  painted  on — and  her  head  was 


HOW  BARBARA  CAME  TO  ESCONDITfi.  3 

made  of  porcelain,  like  dishes.  The  other  little  doll 
which  was  a  boy  doll,  and  a  Chinaman  at  that,  hadn't 
any  hair  at  all,  and  so  he  was  called  Old  Baldy. 


.^n  P 


^■\^ 


He  finds  the  house. 


Lots  of  fairies  lived  near  this  little  girl  on  the 
mountain,  and  they  used  to  come  and  visit  her  and 
sit  by  the  table  with  her.  They  liked  the  little  girl, 
and  so  they  made  her  queen  of  the  fairies.  And  out 
around  in  the  woods  on  the  mountain  there  were 
many  coyotes.  They  troubled  the  fairies  very  much 
and  chased  them  in  the  night  when  they  were 
dancing  on  the  green,  and  then  all  the  little  fairies 
would   scamper  off   to   their  holes,   and   they  were 


THE  BOOK  OF  KNIGHT  AND   BARBARA. 


lucky  if  some  of  them  did  not  get  caught  by  the  old 
coyote. 

One  night  the  little  girl  was  sleeping  in  her  little 
bed  in  the  little  bedroom,  with  a  doll  on  each  side  of 
her  and  Old  Baldy  across  the  foot  of  the  bed,  when 


^ 


The  coyote  breaks  into  the  room. 

she  heard  a  big  coyote  come  up  on  the  front  steps. 
The  coyote  looked  into  the  window  and  howled, 
"  Willie  wau  woo  !  willie  wau  woo  !  wito  hooh  ! " 
Then  he  howled  again  and  pushed  the  window  right 
in  and  came  in  to  where  the  little  girl  was.  The  lit- 
tle girl  grabbed  her  dolls,  so  that  the  coyote  would 
not  get  them.     Then  she  took  the  little  red-haired 


)W  BARBARA  CAME   TO  ESC0NDIT6.  5 

doll  Marguerite,  and  when  the  coyote  opened 

his  mouth  wide  she  pushed  the  dolly  right  down 
his  throat.      The  red  hair  tickled  him  and  made  him 


2rK 

The  red-headed  doll  is  in  his  throat. 

sneeze,  and  he  sneezed  and  sneezed  until  he  sneezed 
his  old  head  off.     Then  the  little  girl  was  glad, 
she  got  up  and  took  the  coyote  by  the  hind  leg 

/ 


She  drags  the  coyote  under  the  tree. 


dragged  him  out  under  the  tree.     Then  she  picked 
up  his  old  head  and  carried  that  off  too.     Then  she 


THE  BOOK  OF   KNIGHT   AND  BARBARA. 

went  back  and  washed  the  coyote-stuff  all  off  from 

^'le  floor.     When  that  was  done  she  put  her  dollies 

)  bed,  and  then  she  went  to  sleep  again  herself. 


She  wipes  up  the  coyote-stuff. 

V\"hen  the  other  coyotes  came  around  in  the  night 
lid  saw  what   she  had  done  they  were  very  much 

afraid. 

In  the   morning  when  the  fairies    found  it  out 
hey  -were  very  glad,  and  they  rubbed  fairy -stuff  on 

the  doll  Marguerite  and  made  her  alive  again.     Then 

'liey  all  had  such  a  good  time — the  little  girl  and 
lie  fairies  and  the  dolls.  They  cooked  and  ate  and 
'ayed  in  the   grass,  and  the  coyotes  all  ran  away 


HOW  BARBARA  CAME   TO  ESCONDITE.  7 

from   the   mountain   and   didn't   trouble   them   any 
more. 

One  day  I  was  walking  in  the  woods  on  the 
mountain  and  I  saw  the  little  girl  asleep  on  the 
grass.  So  I  w^oke  her  up  and  took  her  on  my  back 
and  walked  way  down  the  mountain  with  her  and 
along  the  road  clear  to  Escondite,  where  we  used  to 
live.      When    the   little   girl   got  to  Escondite  she 


^ 


When  he  took  her  home. 


looked  at  the  trees  and  the  roses  and  the  monkeys  in 
the  barn,  and  she  said  she  would  stay  there.  And 
she  has  lived  at  our  house  ever  since.  When  the 
fairies  came  around  her  little  house  in  the  woods 
they  saw  that  the  little  girl  was  gone,  and  at  firs^; 


8  THE  BOOK  OF  KNIGHT  AND  BARBARA. 

they  felt  badly,  but  when  they  found  the  little  red- 
haired  doll  named  Marguerite  they  made  her  their 
queen  and  fixed  up  the  little  house  very  nicely  for 
her  and  for  Old  Baldy,  and  she  has  been  queen  of  the 
fairies  ever  since ;  and  if  you  look  up  on  the  moun- 
tain on  a  dark  night  you  will  see  the  little  electric 
lights  that  shine  all  night  from  her  bedroom  window 
so  that  the  fairies  can  see  to  dance  on  the  grass. 


nnHERE  once  was  a  Baron  Munchausen, 
-^    He  surely  was  one  of  a  thousan', 
For  the  stories  he  told 
They  can  never  grow  old, 
So  long  as  the  small  boy  is  browsin'. 


THE  LITTLE  LEGS   THAT   RAN  AWAY. 

ONCE  there  was  a  little  girl  and  she  used  to 
take  off  her  little  legs  when  she  went  to  bed 
at  night  and  put  them  with  her  clothes  and  the  rest 
of  her  things  in  a  chair.  And  one  night  the  little 
legs   got  uneasy  and  ran  away.      They  found  the 


Took  off  her  little  legs  when  she  went  to  bed. 

bedroom  door  open,  so  they  ran  down  the  steps  into 
the  garden  and  across  the  gravel  walk  out  into  the 

j  fields,    and    away   so    far   no   one   could    see   them. 

I  When  the  little    girl  woke  up  in  the  morning  she 


10  THE  BOOK  OF  KNIGHT  AND  BARBARA. 

found  that  her  legs  were  gone,  so  she  couldn't 
walk.  And  so  she  began  to  cry  until  her  mother 
came  in,  and  then  they  looked  all  around  for  the  lit- 
tle legs.  When  they  went  out  into  the  garden  they 
saw  the  prints  on  the  gravel  which  the  little  legs  had 
made  on  going  out,  for  it  had  just  been  raining  and 
you  could  see  the  marks  quite  plainly.  So  her 
father  saddled  the  horses,  and  they  got  on  their 
backs  and  cantered  around  all  over  the  fields  and 
down  the  road  and  looked  for  the  little  legs.  By 
and  by  they  saw  something  running  by  the  side  of 


They  saw  the  prints  on  the  gravel. 

the  road  away  down  toward  the  Bay.  Then  they 
whipped  up  the  horses,  and  they  ran  very  fast,  and 
the  father  got  off  from  his  horse  and  caught  the 
little  legs  just  as  they  were  getting  tangled  in  a 
barbed  wire  fence.  Then  he  picked  up  the  little 
legs  and  wrapped  them  in  a  soft  blanket  and  put 


THE  LITTLE  LEGS  THAT  RAN  AWAY. 


11 


them  under  his  coat  and  carried  them  home.  Then 
they  fastened  them  on  again,  so  that  the  little  girl 
could  make  them  carry  her  around  anywhere  she 
wanted  to  go ;  and  ever  since  then  she  has  kept  them 
stuck  on  tight,  so  they  can't  get  away,  and  she  never, 
never  takes  them  oft'  at  night. 


Tangled  in  a  barbed  wire  fence. 


A  little  boy,  and  he  had  a  wooden  sword. 

THE  BOY  THAT  WHACKED  THE  WITCH'S 
TOADSTOOLS. 

ONCE  there  was  a  little  boy  and  he  had  a  wooden 
sword,  and  he  went  out  into  the  woods  whack- 
ing the  thistles.  One  day  he  saw  a  great  lot  of  white 
toadstools,  and  so  he  went  for  them  and  knocked  them 


The  little  boy  knocked  down  the  toadstools. 

all  down  with  his  wooden  sword.  When  the  old  witch 
that  had  made  them  all  for  the  goblins  to  sit  on, 
came  along  and  saw  what  he  had  been  doing,  she 
felt  very  bad,  and  cried  for  half  an  hour.  Then 
she  rode  back  to  the  place  where  she  lived  and  got 

12 


THE  BOY   THAT  WHACKED   THE  TOADSTOOLS. 


13 


some  mtch-stujff  she  had  made  out  of  the  teeth  of 
black  cats  soaked  in  formalin,  and  that  night  when 
the  little  boy  was  fast  asleep  she  got  on  a  broom- 


The  old  witch  came  along. 


stick  and  rode  to  his  house,  and  came  down  the 
chimney  into  his  room,  and  rubbed  witch-stuff  all 
over  him.    The  little  boy  was  fast  asleep  and  knew 


She  rode  back  to  the  place  where  she  lived. 

nothing  about  it,  but  in  the  morning  when  his 
mother  came  into  his  room  to  see  why  he  didn't  get 
up,  she  could  not  find  him  anywhere.     All  at  once 


14 


THE  BOOK  OF  KNIGHT  AND  BAKBARA. 


he  jumped  up  from  under  the  bed,  and  his  mother 
saw  that  he  was  all  covered  over  with  hair,  for  he 
was  turned  into  a  little  monkey  person,  and  he  chat- 
tered and  chattered,  and  showed  his  teeth  as  he 
jumped  around.  So  his  mother  got  a  belt  and  put 
it  around  his  waist,  and  tied  a  rope  to  the  belt,  and 
fastened  him  to  the  bed.  He  sat  on  the  foot  of  the 
bed  all  day,  and  at  night  he  went  to  sleep,  and  his 


He  was  a  little  monkey  person. 


mother  tucked  him  up  in  his  little  bed,  with  his 
monkey  face  against  the  white  pillows,  and  she 
hoped  that  something  would  happen  to  make  him 
better  before  morning. 

In  the  morning  when  his  mother  came  in  she 
heard  a  strange  sound  in  the  room,  as  though  some  one 
called  out,  "  Knee-deep  !  knee-deep  !  you'll  drown  ! 
you'll  drown ! "  and  she  saw  that  the  monkey  was 


THE  BOY  THAT  WHACKED  THE  TOADSTOOLS.         15 

gone,  and  in  liis  place  there  was  a  great  green  frog. 
And  the  frog  jumped  around  on  the  floor,  and  into 
the  washbowl,  and  into  the  pitcher.  When  he  got 
into  the  pitcher  he  couldn't  jump  out,  so  he  stayed 
there   all  day.     At  night  he  went  to  sleep.     Then 


She  took  him  out  of  the  water  pitcher. 

his  mother  came  into  the  room,  and  took  him  out 
of  the  water  pitcher  and  put  him  into  bed,  and 
straightened  out  his  little  green  legs  under  the 
blankets.     Then  she  went  awayv 

In  the  mornjng  she  came  around  to  the  room  and 
again  heard  somebody  going,  "  Hoo,  hoo,  hoo  !  "  She 
said  she'd  like  to  know  "  who."  So  she  went  in  to 
find  out.  The  frog  was  gone  ;  but  instead  of  the 
little  boy  there  was  a  little  bird  with  a  long  hooked 
bill  like  a  parrot,  all  covered  over  with  feathers.  It 
was  a  little  owl,  and  it  called  ou^'^'  Hoo,  hoo,  hoo  !  "  all 


16 


THE  BOOK  OF  KNIGHT  AND  BARBARA. 


the  time.  His  mother  could  hardly  hold  him  in  her 
arms,  he  had  such  sharp  claws  and  such  a  hooked 
bill  He  went  to  sleep  when  she  was  holding  him, 
and  then  she  put  him  to  bed,  where  he  lay  all  day,  for 
an  owl  sleeps  all  day  long.  But  at  night  she  could 
hardly  get  him  to  sleep.  She  took  him  in  her  arms 
and  rocked  him  and  rocked  him ;  then  she  laid  him 


nr~in 


It  was  a  little  owl. 


down  in  the  bed,  straightened  out  his  little  legs  ^vith 
the  crooked  toes,  and  turned  up  his  little  hooked 
nose,  and  then  she  went  away. 

The  next  morning  early  she  heard  somebody  in 
the  room,  going  "  Oo-eu-oo-a-oo."  She  went  in  there, 
and  sure  enough,  instead  of  the  little  boy  there  was 
a  big  rooster  sitting  on  the  head  of  the  bed,  crowing 
away  with  all  his  might.  His  mother  said  she  had 
had  enough  of  that,  so  she  stuck  some  pins  into  him 
and    he    stopped    crowing,    and    wherever    one    of 


THE  BOY  THAT  WHACKED  THE  TOADSTOOLS.         17 

those  pins  stuck  a  pinfeather  grew  out.     Then  she 
took  hold  of  the  rooster  and  pulled  all  his  feathers 


Crowing  away  with  all  his  might. 

out.  When  she  had  pulled  out  every  one  he  didn't 
feel  quite  so  smart  as  he  did  before,  and  then  he  was 
willing  to  go  to  bed  early.  So  his  mother  tucked 
him  up  into  bed,  and  straightened  out  his  claws,  and 
tied  a  handkerchief  around  his  bare  neck. 


A  little  speckly,  jumpy  pig. 


In  the  morning  she  came  in  again.     "  Ugh,  ugh  ! " 
she  heard,  and  there  was  a  little  speckly,  jumpy  pig 


18 


THE  BOOK  OF  KNIGHT  AND  BARBARA. 


in  the  bed.  His  mother  said  that  this  was  just  a 
little  too  much  for  her,  so  took  the  pig  by  one  of  his 
hind  legs  and  put  him  in  the  bathtub.  Then  she 
I'ubbed  him  and  she  scrubbed  him  with  sapolio 
and  benzine,  and  he  squealed  and  squealed ;  but  his 
mother  kept  at  it  until  she  had 
rubbed  all  the  witch-stuff  off,  and 
then  the  pig  part  all  came  off. 
Then  she  rubbed  him  all  over  with 
vaseline  until  he  became  a  little 
boy  again,  just  the  same  as  he  was 
before. 

And  ever  since  then  when  he 
has  had  a  wooden  sword  he  has 
worn  it  by  his  side,  and  kept  away 
from  toadstools.  And  when  the 
witch  saw  him  once  more,  she  want- 
ed to  know  how  he  got  to  be  a 
boy  again,  and  he  wouldn't  tell  her. 
But  when  she  wanted  some  one  to  come  and  be 
a  king  she  sent  for  this  little  boy. 


A  Union  soldier 


THE  KING  WHOSE  EYES  WERE  OPENED. 

ONCE  tliere  was  a  witch  and  slie  sat  by  the  side 
of  the  road,  and  she  was  crying,  for  she  felt 
very  badly  because  the  little  boy  had  broken  down 
her  toadstools.  The  king  came  driving  by,  and  the 
witch  came  up  to  him  and  asked  the  king  to  give 
her  something;  but  the  king  shut  his  eyes  and 
wouldn't  look  at  her.  Then  the  witch  began  to  cry 
louder  than  ever,  and  the  king  shut  his  eyes  all  the 
tighter,  and  drove  on.  Then  said  the  witch :  "  When 
you  get  ready  to  open  your  eyes,  I  will  see  that  they 
stay  open." 

When  the  king  got  ready  to  open  his  eyes  he 
opened  them  very  wide,  because  he  saw  such  aston- 
ishing things.  He  looked  up  into  the  sky,  and  all 
of  a  sudden  he  saw  the  dragon  of  the  great  T>dn- 
dragon  ship  going  by  in  the  clouds — sailing  away 
through  the  sky  all  full  of  dragons.  Dragons  on  one 
hand  and  dragons  on  the  other,  dragons  on  the  sails 
and  dragons  on  the  masts — green  dragons,  blue  drag- 

19 


20 


THE  BOOK  OF  KNIGHT  AND  BARBARA. 


ons,  yellow  dragons.  The  king  opened  his  eyes  still 
wider  when  he  saw  all  this,  and  when  he  opened 
them  wide  enough  he  could  see  everything  on  earth, 
and  everything  that  was  going  on  everywhere.  So 
he  kept  opening  his  eyes  wider  and  wider,  because 


The  king  came  driving  by. 

there  were  so  many  things  he  didn't  know  before. 
Kc  looked  up  into  the  sky  and  he  could  see  the 
moon  and  everything  there  was  on  it,  the  man  in 
the  moon  and  all  the  things  he  had — calves  and 
chickens  and  pigs  and  briar  bushes.  He  looked  into 
the  sun — the  sun  was  wide  open,  and  he  could  see 


THE  KIXG  WHOSE  EYES  WERE  OPENED.  21 

into  the  middle  of  it  and  all  the  things  that  were 
there. 

When  he  got  to  the  palace  his  eyes  were  open 
so  w^ide,  looking  at  all  these  things,  that  he  stepped 
right  out  through  his  eyelids,  and  then  he  was  in 
all  sorts  of  trouble.  He  couldn't  walk  any  mgre  nor 
do  anything,  and  so  they  had  to  carry  him  up  and 
put  him  on  his  throne.  When  he  sat  on  the  throne 
he  could  see  all  sorts  of  wonderful  things  he  had 
never  heard  of  before,  for  he  was  looking  right  down 
into  himself. 

Then  they  sent  for  the  witch  to  come  and  help 
the  king.  "  Your  eyes  are  open  a  good  deal  wider 
than  you  wanted,"  the  witch  said.  "Trade  places 
with  me ;  go  out  on  the  road  and  look  at  things,  and 
let  me  be  queen  for  ten  years.  Then  I  \vill  put  some 
witch-stuff  on  your  eyes  that  will  make  them  all  right 
again,  so  that  you  can  shut  your  eyes,  and  then  you 
can  not  see  half  as  much  as  you  do  now."  And  the 
king  said  he  would  be  glad  to  trade  places.  Then 
the  witch  went  into  the  palace  and  was  queen,  and 
the  king  went  out  on  the  road.  But  he  still  had 
some  of  the  witch-stuff  on  his  eyes,  and  his  eyes 
were  open  a   little  wider  other  people's  eyes. 

He  walked  along  the  roa'  fter  day,  and  saw  all 


22 


THE  BOOK  OP  KNIGHT  AND  BARBARA. 


the  little  crickets  that  live  under  a  stone,  saw  how 
all  the  little  flowers  open  their  buds,  and  saw  the 
little  birds  build  their  nests  in  the  trees,  and  saw  the 


He  walked  along  the  road  day  after  day. 

littl^  fisLes  gathering  their  broods  in  the  brooks. 
He  liked  going  along  the  road  looking  at  things  so 
much  that,  when  the  ten  years  were  up,  he  did  not 
want  to  be  king  any  more  at  all.  Then  he  went  off 
where  the  witch  couldn't  find  him.  But  the  witch 
was  tired  of  being  queen,  for  she  wanted  to  get  out 
and  plant  some  new  toadstools.  So  when  the  ten 
years  were  passed  and  she  couldn't  find  the  king  she 
went  away,  and  there  was  no  king  nor  queen.  But 
the  witch  found  the  little  boy  that  had  whacked  her 


THE  KINGi  WHOSE  EYES  WERE  OPENED. 


23 


toadstools,  and  she  got  him  to  be  king,  and  he  is 
king  yet,  and  sits  on  a  great  golden  throne,  with  a 
wooden  sword  in  his  hand  and  a  golden  crown  on 
his  head.  And  if  you  will  look  into  the  window  of 
the  back  parlor  of  the  palace  you  will  see  him  sitting 
there  to-day. 


And  he  is  king  yet. 


THE  GENIUS  OF  THE  FIRECEACKEE. 

ONCE  there  was  a  little  boy  and  his  name  was 
Candytuft,  and  his  little  sister  was  named  Daf- 
fodil. So  their  father  and  mother  went  away  one 
day  and  left  them  all  alone  at  home ;  and  when  it 
came  time  for  supper  all  they  could  find  in  the  pantry 
were  two  crackers,  and  one  of  these  was  a  firecracker. 
So  the  little  boy,  whose  name  was  Candytuft,  looked 
around  in  all  the  grates  till  he  found  a  spark  of  fire. 
Then  he  put  the  end  of  the  firecracker  on  the  spark 
of  fire,  and  it  went  fizz-ziz-bang !  and  the  little  boy 
jumped  and  the  little  girl  screamed. 

For  there  stood  a  great,  big,  black  genius,  with 
hair  like  a  broom  and  whiskers  like  a  mop,  and  great 
rolling  eyes.  Then  the  genius  bowed  low  and  said, 
"  What  does  my  Lord  Candytuft  want  ? "  And  the 
little  boy  was  astonished,  but  he  thought  it  a  good 
chance  to  get  some  more  firecrackers.  So  he  said 
that  he  wanted  a  hundred  bunches  of  firecrackers, 
and  a  magic  match  to  light  them  with,  and  a  genius 


THE  GENIUS  OP  THE  FIRECRACKER. 


25 


to  come  for  every  one.  So  the  genius  scratched  a 
match  on  his  heel,  and  a  dwarf  came,  with  a  red  cap 
and  yellow  gloves,  and  brought  the  firecrackers  and 
the  match.  But  the  genius  said  that  the  little  boy 
must  not  be  piggish; 
there  were  not  genii 
enough  to  go  around, 
and  one  big  genius 
would  have  to  do  for 
the  whole  hundred 
bunches  of  firecrackers. 
Then  the  genius 
vanished  away,  but  the 
little  boy  had  him  back 
again  very  soon,  and 
then  the  little  girl  said 
that   it   was   her   turn. 

So  she  burned  a  firecracker,  and  the  genius  came 
back  and  bowed  very  low,  saying:  "What  does  my 
Lady  Daffodil  want  ? "  .  "I  want  a  hundred  dolls," 
said  the  little  girl.  So  the  dwarf  brought  in  a 
hundred  dolls  and  stood  them  up  around  the  wall. 
Then  the  dwarf  and  the  genius  vanished  away.  But 
the  little  boy  took  his  magic  match  and  lighted  a 
firecracker.     And  it  went  fizz-ziz-bang !   just  as  be- 


The  dwarf  came,  with  red  cap  and 
yellow  gloves. 


26  THE  BOOK  OF  KNIGHT  AND  BARBARA. 

fore,  and  the  genius  had  to  come  back  to  see  what 
the  little  boy  wanted.  And  he  had  to  come  so  often 
after  that,  that  he  finally  went  out  to  the  barn  and 
made  a  bed  in  the  hay  instead  of  vanishing  away 
in  the  regular  fashion  of  genii.  And  he  took  the 
dwarf  with  him  and  made  him  a  nice  little  bed  of 
cotton  batting  in  an  old  cracker  box ;  but  this  was 
just  a  box  for  common  crackers,  not  firecrackers. 

So  when  the  little  boy  or  the  little  girl  looked 
toward  the  barn  and  called  out,  the  genius  came  and 
the  dwarf  with  them,  and  they  didn't  have  to  bum 
any  more  firecrackers. 

Then  the  little  girl  wanted  her  dolls  dressed,  and 
the  dwarf  dressed  them  all.  And  the  little  boy 
called  for  tin  soldiers — and  they  wanted  them  to  talk 
and  to  walk.  So  the  dwarf  rubbed  fairy-stuif  on  all 
the  tin  soldiers  and  on  all  the  dolls,  so  that  they  could 
all  talk  and  walk,  and  they  had  great  fun.  And  the 
tin  soldiers  danced  with  the  dolls,  and  the  genius  got 
a  fine  supper,  and  the  dwarf  waited  at  the  table. 
Then  they  had  a  nice  dance  and  a  lot  of  pretty  little 
games,  such  as  "  Sing  a  Song  of  Sixpence  "  and  "  Ring 
around  the  Rosy,"  that  the  little  boy  and  the  little 
girl  had  learned  at  the  kindergarten. 

And  in  the  evening,  after  the  dwarf  had  put  aU 


THE  GENIUS  OF  THE  FIRECRACKER.       27 

the  (lolls  to  bed  in  a  lot  of  little  beds  the  genius  had 
made,  the  tin  soldiers  spread  their  blankets  on  the 
floor  and  they  all  slept  until  morning. 

Then,  next  day,  they  all  went  out  for  a  walk  in 
the  woods.  They  went  out  by  the  brook,  taking 
good  care  to  keep  out  of  the  way  of  the  poison  oak, 
till  they  came  to  the  open  place  behind  the  thick 
forest.  Here  they  all  sat  down  for  a  lunch,  and  then 
they  took  a  nap,  and  the  little  boy  slept  in  the  gen- 
ius's cap,  and  the  little  girl  in  one  of  his  shoes,  while 
the  dwarf  curled  up  in  another. 

But  when  they  were  fast  asleep  a  fox  came  along 
and  grabbed  one  of  the  little  dolls  and  a  coyote 
took  another.  The  dolls  screamed  while  they  were 
being  swallowed,  but  it  was  no  use.  Down  they 
went. 

Then  the  genius  sent  the  dwarf  out,  and  he 
caught  the  fox  by  his  bushy  tail  and  made  him  un- 
swallow  the  little  doll.  And  he  rubbed  fairy-stuff 
on  the  doll  so  that  she  came  to  be  all  right  again, 
and  he  rubbed  fairy-stuff  on  the  fox  and  he  became 
tame  and  all  good-natured  like  the  rest  of  them. 
And  he  did  the  same  with  the  coyote,  and  when  they 
came  home  the  little  boy  rode  on  the  coyote's  back 
and  the  little  girl  on  the  fox's  back,  and  the  genius 


28  THE  BOOK  OF  KNIGHT  AND  BARBARA. 

went  ahead  and  the  dwarf  behind,  and  every  little 
doll  rode  home  on  the  back  of  a  tin  soldier. 

And  when  they  came  home  they  all  sat  down  to- 
gether on  the  front  steps,  except  the  genius,  who  was 
so  big  that  he  sat  all  over  the  yard,  when  their  folks 
came  driving  up  the  road  on  their  way  home.  And 
when  their  mother  saw  the  genius  and  the  fox  and 
the  coyote  and  everything  else  she  was  very  much 
scared.  And  the  genius  got  up  very  quickly  and 
stepped  on  the  magic  match,  setting  all  the  fire- 
crackers on  fire.  And  they  all  went  fizz-ziz-bang  so 
fast  that  the  genius  couldn't  keep  time  with  them, 
for  he  had  to  jump  up  at  every  firecracker  and  bow 
and  ask  what  my  lord  wanted.  And  jumping 
around  in  that  way  he  was  scared  out  of  his  wits 
and  ran  away,  and  the  dwarf  ran  too,  and  the  tin 
soldiers  and  the  dolls,  and  nobody  has  seen  any  of 
them  since.  Only  there  were  three  little  dolls  that 
didn't  have  any  fairy-stuff  rubbed  on  them,  and  they 
stayed  in  the  corner  all  alone  and  didn't  run  away. 
And  one  of  these  was  named  Marguerite,  and  she 
had  long  red  hair.  And  one  was  Sally,  and  she  had 
black  hair  just  painted  on,  and  the  other  was  a  little 
Chinese  doll  with  no  hair  at  all,  and  they  called  him 
Old  Baldy.     And  there  was  one  tin  soldier  that  was 


THE  GENIUS  OF  THE  FIRECRACKER.  29 

broken  in  two  because  the  genius  had  stepped  on 
him,  and  so  he  was  left  behind.  He  was  not  of  any 
use  until  they  fastened  him  together  with  glue,  and 
then  he  was  all  right  again. 

The  little  boy  felt  very  badly  until  his  father  got 
him  a  hundred  more  bunches  of  firecrackers.  Then 
he  fired  them  all  oflp,  but  the  old  genius  did  not  come 
back  any  more,  nor  any  other  genius. 

I  think  that  the  reason  was  because  he  had  lost 
the  magic  match.  But  it  may  be  because  the  genius 
was  busy  with  some  other  little  boy  over  in  Crim 
Tartary,  where  all  the  genii  live.  Maybe  some 
Fourth  of  July,  or  some  Chinese  New  Year's,  when 
he  hasn't  so  much  to  do,  the  genius  will  come  back 
again,  and  then  the  little  boy  will  take  good  care  that 
his  mother  does  not  scream  when  she  sees  him,  and 
so  scare  him  off. 


THE  MAGIC  THIMBLE. 

ONCE  there  was  a  little  girl  and  she  had  a  name 
so  pretty  that  I  could  never  say  it,  and  nobody 
could  ever  print  it  in  a  book,  so  I  will  call  her  Rain- 
bow, but  that  was  not  her  real  name.  When  her 
birthday  came,  Santa  Claus  brought  her  a  little  thim- 
ble, not  a  common  one,  but  a  magic  thimble,  such  as 
the  magic  people  have.  Santa  Claus  had  just  come 
back  from  Crim  Tartary,  where  all  the  children  have 
magic  toys,  and  all  toys  are  alive,  and  griffins  and 
genii  are  just  as  common  as  canary  birds  and  kittens 
are  with  us.  So  he  got  the  magic  thimble  mixed  up 
with  the  other  things,  and  the  little  girl  found  it  in 
her  stocking  along  with  the  rest  of  her  toys. 

And  when  she  put  it  on  to  mend  her  little  stock- 
ing, she  pricked  it  with  her  needle,  and  there  came  a 
snap  and  a  spark  of  fire,  something  went  buzz-buzz, 
and  a  little  girl  genius  stood  before  her,  and  said : 
"  What  does  Rainbow  want  ? "  And  Rainbow  looked 
at  the  little  girl  genius,  and  saw  her  pink  dress  and 


THE  MAGIC  THIMBLE.  31 

blue  sash  and  round  blue  eyes.  And  she  said :  "  I 
want  a  little  doll,  just  like  you."  And  then  the  little 
genius  went  out  through  the  keyhole,  and  the  little 
girl  looked  in  her  doll's  house,  and  sure  enough  there 
was  a  nice  little  doll  just  like  the  genius,  with  pink 
dress  and  blue  sash,  and  she  sat  there  and  stared 
with  her  blue  eyes  wide  open  at  the  little  girl.  So 
the  little  girl  played  with  her  doll,  and  she  named' 
it  Leila,  and  she  had  such  a  nice  time ;  but  the  little 
doll  couldn't  do  anything — only  sit  and  stare. 

So  the  little  girl  pricked  her  thimble  again  and  it 
went  snap,  buzz-buzz,  and  the  little  girl  genius  came 
back  again,  and  she  said :  "  What  does  Rainbow 
want  ? "  And  she  wanted  her  little  doll  to  see  out 
of  her  eyes.  So  the  genius  went  out  of  the  window, 
and  the  doll  Leila  could  see  out  of  her  eyes,  so  she 
didn't  have  to  stare  any  more ;  but  that  was  all  she 
could  do. 

And  when  the  little  girl  called  up  the  genius 
again  she  wanted  her  doU  to  talk.  And  so  it  was. 
The  doll  talked  and  talked  all  the  time,  but  she 
didn't  say  anything.  She  talked  of  her  dresses,  how 
many  she  had  and  how  many  more  she  wanted,  and 
one  was  pink  and  her  sash  was  blue,  and  she  said 
this  all  over  so  many  times  that  the  little  girl  said 


32  THE  BOOK  OF  KNIGHT  AND  BARBARA. 

she  was  silly,  and  she  didn't  like  her  at  all,  and  then 
^he  cried  and  cried  till  Rainbow  tied  a  ribbon  over 
her  mouth  to  keep  her  still.  Then  she  got  out  the 
magic  thimble  once  more.  And  then  the  little  girl 
wished  that  Leila  would  talk  some  sense.  Then  she 
did  talk  sense,  for  the  little  girl  genius  made  it  so. 
Then  the  little  girl  talked  with  the  doll  all  day,  and 
talked  good  sense,  and  she  has  done  so  ever  since, 
and  it  is  ever  so  nice. 

But  she  had  to  carry  Leila  everywhere  in  her 
arms.  So  she  got  the  thimble  and  called  the  little 
girl  genius  up  again.  The  genius  didn't  like  it 
very  well,  because  she  was  in  a  hurry,  and  wanted 
to  get  back  to  Crim  Tartary,  where  all  the  rest  of 
the  genii  live,  and  she  knew  that  her  father  and 
mother  would  miss  her. 

But  the  little  girl  kept  her  busy  all  the  time, 
for  now  she  wanted  the  doll  Leila  to  walk.  And 
the  doll  walked  all  about,  but  she  was  so  small  that 
she  got  lost  in  the  flower  garden,  and  gave  the  little 
girl  lots  of  trouble.  So  the  next  time  Rainbow  put 
on  her  thimble  she  wished  that  Leila  would  grow 
bigger  every  day,  just  as  she  did,  and  then  she 
wouldn't  keep  getting  lost  all  the  time.  But  the 
little  girl  genius  smiled  and  said  it  would  be  easier 

\ 


THE  MAGIC  THIMBLE.  33 

to  bring   her  a   little  sister  and    be   done  with  it, 
instead  of  fixing  up  the  doll  Leila  any  more. 

So  the  little  girl  genius  brought  Rainbow  a  little 
sister,  and  she  had  a  name  just  as  pretty  as  Rain- 
bow's, so  pretty  that  I  can't  say  it  at  all,  and  it 
could  never  be  printed  in  any  book.  And  Rainbow 
played  with  her  little  sister  every  day,  and  forgot  all 
about  the  magic  thimble,  and  all  about  the  doll 
Leila.  And  the  doll  Leila  put  the  thimble  on  her 
little  hand,  and  all  her  fingers  went  into  it,  and  then 
she  pricked  the  thimble  with  a  pin,  and  the  little 
girl  genius  came  up,  and  then  they  both  went  ojff 
together  and  took  the  thimble  with  them.  And  the 
little  girl  never  saw  them  any  more,  and  I  never 
did  either,  but  I  think  that  they  must  have  gone 
back  to  Crim  Tartary,  where  all  the  dolls  can  talk 
and  all  the  children's  playthings  are  magic. 


UNA'S  CHILDEEN  AND  THE  LION. 

{As  Dictated  and  Illustrated  by  Barbara.) 

ONCE  there  was  a  little  girl  and  Una  was  tlie 
motlier,  you  know  (for  Una  had  a  lion  that  used 
to  walk  with  her  in  the  woods).  And  Una  said  that 
she  could  have  the  lion,  and  Una  told  the  children 


Una,  with  stirrups,  on  the  lion. 


that  they  could    have  the  lion  if  they  could  hitch 
him  up  well.     And  then  Una  had  the  lion  after  the 


34 


UNA'S  CHILDREN  AND  THE  LION. 


35 


Una's  father  and  mother. 


Una's  children  ride  on  the  lion. 


36  THE  BOOK  OF  KNIGHT  AND  BARBARA. 

children  had  him,  and  then  the  lion  went  with  the 
children  whenever  they  wanted  him  to.  And  the 
lion  loved  the  children  and  Una. 

And  oh,  the  children  rode  him  every  day,  and 
all  the  time  when  Una  wasn't  using  him.  They 
had  a  little  saddle  of  course,  a  sidesaddle. 


Una's  fjather  rides  the  lion. 


THE   BOY  AND   GIRL   WHO   SAILED   AWAY. 

ONCE  there  were  two  children,  a  little  boy  and  a 
little  girl,  and  they  lived  by  the  side  of  a  lake. 
In  the  lake  there  was  a  boat,  and  they  got  into  the 
boat,  and  then  the  boy  spread  the  sail,  and  the  little 


They  lived  by  the  side  of  a  lake. 

girl  took  hold  of  the  rudder,  and  the  little  boy  took 
the  hatchet  that  he  found  in  the  boat  and  chopped 
off  the  rope,  and  the  boat  sailed  away,  out  of  sight 
of  home,  off  into  strange  countries,  and  down  a 
strange  river.  It  sailed  along  until  it  was  night, 
and  then  it  sailed  until  it  came  morning.  The  chil- 
dren were  very  hungry  in  the  morning,   and  they 

37 


38  THE  BOOK  OP  KNIGHT  AND  BARBARA. 

sailed  under  a  big  tree  full  of  monkey  people.  It 
was  a  wild  apple  tree,  and  monkeys  were  on  all  its 
branches.  Tkey  kadn't  anything  left  in  their  boat 
to  eat  except  one  grakam  gem,  and  they  took  this 
one  gem  and  tkrew  it  at  the  monkey  people,  and  the 
monkey  people  threw  an  apple  back,  for  they  have 
to  do  whatever  they  see  real  people  do.  Then  the 
little  boy  threw  the  apple  into  the  tree  again.  Then 
the  monkey  people  got  mad,  and  threw  lots  of  apples 
at  the  little  boy  and  girl.  So  they  gathered  all  the 
apples  they  wanted,  and  they  sailed  on  a  little  far- 
ther and  came  to  another  kind  of  tree,  and  it  was  a 
breadfruit  tree,  and  that  was  full  of  monkey  people 
too.  So  the  little  boy  and  girl  threw  apples  at  the 
monkey  people,  and  the  monkey  persons  threw 
down  breadfruit  at  them.  So  then  after  they  had 
gathered  all  the  breadfruit  they  wanted  they  sailed 
on  again. 

But  they  had  nothing  to  eat  on  their  bread. 
They  came  next  to  a  hollow  tree,  and  this  tree  had  a 
squirrel  in  it,  and  he  had  lots  of  nuts  stored  away 
inside.  They  took  all  the  nuts  he  had,  and  the 
squirrel  said  he  might  as  well  go  along  too.  Then 
they  came  to  a  bee  tree,  and  the  squirrel  went  out 
and  made  a  hole  in  the  bee  tree.     Then  the  little 


THE  BOY  AND  GIRL  WHO  SAILED  AWAY. 


39 


boy  took  some  matches  lie  found  in  the  bottom  of 
the  boat,  and  lighted  them,  and  put  them  into  the 
hole  in  the  bee  tree,  and  the  burning  matches  made 
the  bees  all  go  to  sleep,  and  the  little  boy  reached  in 


The  monkey  persons  threw  breadfruit  at  them. 

and  got  all  the  honey  they  wanted.  Then  they  cut 
their  bread  into  slices  and  put  honey  on  it  and  ate 
it.  But  at  home  they  always  used  to  toast  their 
bread,  so  they  found  a  bottle  and  filled  it  with 
water  and  held  it  in  the  sun ;  in  that  way  they  made 
a  burning  glass,  and  they  toasted  their  bread  by  it. 


40      THE  BOOK  OF  KNIGHT  AND  BARBARA. 

They  went  on  a  little  farther,  and  the  first  thing 
they  knew  the  squirrel  had  been  gnawing  away  in 
the  bottom  of  the  boat,  and  had  cut  a  hole  in  it,  so 
that  the  water  came  in  and  the  boat  began  to  sink. 
The  little  boy  waded  out  into  the  water,  and  the 
bottom  was  covered  with  clam  shells.  Then  he  saw 
a  big  India-nibber  tree  growing  on  the  bank.  So 
he  took  one  of  the  clam  shells  and  fastened  it  on  the 
India-rubber  tree,  and  cut  a  hole  in  the  tree  with  his 
jackknife.  Then  lots  of  India-rubber  milk  ran  out 
of  the  tree  and  he  caught  it  in  the  clam  shell.  Then 
he  took  the  milk  and  filled  up  the  hole  in  the  boat 
with  it.  Then  they  made  a  cover  of  India  inibber 
to  go  over  the  boat  when  it  was  raining,  and  they 
made  some  rubber  boots,  rubber  bands,  and  rubber 
ropes,  to  use  when  they  needed  them.  It  was  very 
lucky  that  they  did  so,  for  pretty  soon  a  great  storm 
came  up,  and  the  water  went  all  over  the  boat,  and 
carried  away  the  masts  and  sails.  When  the  storm 
was  over  they  saw  it  was  not  a  storm  at  all,  but 
a  great  big  whale  had  been  spouting  and  had  done  it 
all.  When  the  little  boy  saw  the  whale  he  took  his 
hatchet  and  cut  a  whalebone  out  of  its  mouth,  and 
put  it  up  for  a  mast.  Then  all  around  them  they 
saw  a  flock  of  Portuguese  men-of-war.     They  caught 


THE  BOY  AND  GIRL  WHO  SAILED  AWAY. 


41 


42  THE   BOOK  OP   KNIGHT  AND   BARBARA. 

a  lot  of  these  and  fastened  them  together  and  made 
new  sails  of  them.  They  made  very  nice  sails,  for 
they  are  soft  as  silk,  and  blue  and  pink,  and  all  sorts 
of  colors. 

By  and  by  a  big  snake  poked  his  head  out  at 
them  from  a  hole  in  the  bank,  as  if  he  were  going 
to  bite  somebody.  But  the  little  boy  was  ready  for 
everything.  He  took  a  i-ubber  band  and  clapped  it 
around  the  snake's  mouth.  Then  he  fastened  the 
snake's  tail  to  a  tree  and  held  on  to  its  head  ;  and  so 
they  used  the  snake  for  an  anchor.  Then  a  pelican 
came  along  and  they  asked  him  if  he  would  like  to 
ride  with  them.  He  said  he  would,  so  the  little  boy 
put  a  rubber  band  around  his  neck  and  a  rubber  strap 
around  his  leg.  Then  the  pelican  went  fishing,  but 
he  could  not  swallow  the  fishes  he  caught  because 
there  was  a  band  around  his  neck.  When  he  had 
caught  a  fish  they  pulled  him  in  by  the  strap  on  his 
leg,  and  so  they  got  all  the  fishes  they  wanted. 

But  their  parents  at  home  were  very  much  wor- 
ried, because  they  did  not  know  where  the  children 
were.  Finally  they  got  a  steamboat  and  started  out 
to  find  them.  They  came  along  to  the  monkey  peo- 
ple, who  threw  apples  at  them.  Then  they  came  to 
the  breadfruit  tree,  and    the  monkeys  there   threw 


THE  BOY   AND  GIRL  WHO  SAILED  AWAY.  43 

breadfi'uit  at  them  so  that  they  didn't  dare  to  stay- 
on  the  outside  of  the  boat.  But  they  didn't  know 
that  breadfruit  was  good  to  eat.  Then  they  came 
to  the  bee  tree.  The  bees  had  all  waked  up  by  that 
time ;  so  they  flew  out  and  stung  them.  They  sailed 
SLway  in  a  hurry,  for  their  faces  smarted  where  they 
had  been  stung.  Then  they  came  to  where  the 
India-rubber  tree  was.  They  thought  that  it  would 
make  their  faces  feel  better,  if  they  rubbed  India- 
rubber  milk  over  the  sore  places.  But  the  rub- 
ber stuck  tight  to  their  faces.  They  drank  some 
of  the  India-rubber  -milk,  and  it  turned  hard,  and 
then  they  couldn't  get  their  mouths  open,  and  when 
they  finally  opened  their  mouths  the  rubber  pulled 
all  their  teeth  out. 

So  they  sailed  on  to  where  the  children  were. 
The  old  snake  that  had  been  the  anchor  stuck  out 
his  tail,  and  it  went  into  their  boat  and  scared  them ; 
then  it  got  tangled  up  in  the  wheel  of  the  steamer, 
and  splashed  the  w^ater  all  over  the  old  folks.  When 
the  children  saw  their  parents  coming,  they  were 
veiy  nice  to  them.  They  called  to  them  not  to  be 
afraid,  for  they  would  take  care  of  them.  Then 
they  went  over  to  the  steamboat  and  took  the  old 
folks   into   their   own    boat,    and    they    gave    them 


44 


THE   BOOK  OP   KNIGHT  AND  BARBARA. 


some  breadfruit  and  toast 
and   honey,  and    nice  things, 
and  treated  them  as  well  as 
they   could,    and   went   home, 
and  carried  the  old  folks  safe- 
ly   home    with     them.     They 
fastened    the    snake's    tail    to 
the    bowsprit,    and     dragged 
the    steamboat    home    behind 
them. 


"^r 


IN    GOBLINTOWN. 

r^  OBLINS  live  in  Goblintown- 
^-^      Funniest  place  I  know ; 
Half  the  houses  upside  down, 
Goblins  build  'em  so. 

Some  with  doorsteps  in  the  air, 
Chimneys  underground ; 

Goblins  make  them  anyhow, 
Leave  them  standing  round. 

Just  the  way  the  goblins  have, 
Nothing  fixed  up  right ; 

Goblins  lie  and  sleep  all  day. 
Have  to  work  at  night. 

All  the  streets  in  Goblintown 

Don't  run  anywhere ; 
Seem  to  go  just  round  and  round  ; 

Goblins  do  not  care. 


46       THE  BOOK  OF  KNIGHT  AND  BARBARA. 

Lots  of  fun  iu  Goblinto\\Ti, 

Circus  every  night ; 
Can't  make  goblins  go  to  school 

Just  to  read  and  write. 

Goblins  queerest  kind  of  folks, 
Look  like  great  big  flies  ; 

Have  balloons  instead  of  heads, 
Bottle  glass  for  eyes. 

Goblins  pull  their  heads  right  off, 

Toss  them  in  the  sky ; 
When  you  think  they're  gone  for  good, 

Catch  them  on  the  fly. 

Goblins  whittle  toadstools  out 
While  they're  standing  round ; 

When  there's  nothing  else  to  do, 
Stick  'em  in  the  ground. 

When  a  goblin  wants  to  fly 

All  he  has  to  do, 
Just  to  flap  his  ears  and  howl, 

Then  away  he'll  go. 

Want  to  go  to  Goblintown  ? 
Only  just  one  way ; 


IN   GOBLINTOWN.  47 

Just  you  take  some  pitch-dark  night 
When  the  moon's  away. 

Don't  you  say  a  single  word, 

Just  you  go  to  bed ; 
Let  your  mamma  tuck  you  in, 

Little  sleepy  head. 

Just  pretend  to  go  to  sleep, 

As  you  always  do, 
Till  you  hear  the  old  town  clock 

Striking  one  or  two. 

Then  you  just  crawl  out  of  bed. 

Creep  right  down  the  stair. 
Go  and  stand  behind  the  pump — 

Always  goblins  there. 

Call  out,  ^'  Goblin,  goblin,  come  ! " 

And  they'll  run  to  you ; 
Then  they'll  beat  the  goblin  drum, 

As  they  always  do. 

Climb  upon  the  goblin's  back, 

Hold  on  tight,  of  course ; 
Canter  off  to  Goblintown 

On  a  goblin  horse. 


48  THE   BOOK  OP   KNIGHT   AND  BARBARA. 

Lose  your  way  in  Goblintown  ? 

Awful  easy  to ; 
First  you  know  you're  somewhere  else, 

Someone  else  is  you. 

Get  you  home  from  Goblintown  ? 

Guess  you'd  better  stay 
Till  you  hear  the  breakfast  beu ;    "^^ 

That's  the  quickest  way.  ^ 


The  turkey-buzzard. 

THE    STRANGE    RABBIT. 

NCE    there    was    a    turkey  -  buzzard,    and  he 
flew     over     the 
country  flapping 
his  wings.     One 
day  he  saw  sit- 
ting on  the  rock 
in  the  sun  what 
he  thought  was 
a   big   fat    rab- 
bit, so  says  he, 
"Let's  have  that 
rablr>it    for    din- 
ner."     But    the 
rabbit  said  noth- 
ing.    Then    the 
turkey  -  buzzard 
flew    do^^Tl    and 

What  he  really  saw.  grabbed  the  rab-      What  he  thought  he  saw. 


Went  like  a  buzz  saw. 


50  THE  BOOK  OF   KNIGHT  AND  BARBARA. 

bit  and  the  rabbit  went,  "  r-r-r  wu-wu-wu,"  just  like 
a  buzz  saw,  and  the  turkey-buzzard  found  himself 
rolling  all  over  the  ground,  and  when  it  was  all  quiet 


It  turned  around. 


again  the  rabbit  wasn't  saying  anything.  But  the 
turkey-buzzard  looked  around  and  could  not  find  any 
of  his  feathers,  for  they  were  lying  all  about  in  the 
grass,  and  one  half  his  bill  was  gone,  and  he  had 


THE  STRANGE  RABBIT.  51 

only  one  leg.  These  pictures  show  what  the  turkey- 
buzzard  thought  he  saw,  and  what  he  really  saw, 
and  what  it  looked  like  when  it  tui'ned  around,  and 
the  way  the  turkey-buzzard  looked  when  he  was 
walking  home. 


When  he  walked  home. 


THE  KING   THAT  HAD   XO   CASTLE. 

ONCE  there  wasn't  any  king  and  he  did  not  have 
any  castle,  and  his  castle  wasn't  made  out  of 
stone,  and  it  wasn't  just  set  down  on  the  ground,  so 
that  whoever  came  in  and  out  its  big  iron  door  did 
not  have  to  walk  in  the  dust.  And  so  the  king 
wasn't  unhappy,  because  the  dust  did  not  get  on  his 
clothes  in  dry  weather,  and  he  wasn't  spattered  with 
mud  when  it  rained.  For  that  is  just  the  way  it 
is  with  common  folks  who  are  not  kings  and  who 
haven't  any  castles,  and  so  can  not  come  indoors 
when  it  is  wet. 

So  the  king  didn't  get  tired  of  his  castle,  because 
it  wasn't  just  set  on  the  ground.  So  he  didn't  go 
out  in  the  evening  and  sit  on  the  dooi-step,  looking 
up  into  the  clouds,  which  were  not  piling  up  on  each 
other  like  great  mountains,  and  he  didn't  wish  that 
he  had  built  his  castle  up  there  where  he  would 
never  get  dust  on  his  clothes,  nor  bespatter  his  shoes 
with  mud.     And  so  when  *he  had  not  looked  at  the 


THE  KING  THAT  HAD  NO  CASTLE.  53 

clouds  for  a  long  time,  lie  did  not  order  his  horse 
and  his  soldiers  and  ride  up  the  side  of  the  moun- 
tain, high  up  to  where  the  pinnacles  of  stone  do  not 
rise  above  the  rolling  cliffs  of  the  cloud.  So  he  did 
not  take  his  soldiers  and  his  horse  and  ride  out  on 
the  great  clouds,  which  were  not  piled  up  black 
before  him,  with  red  edges  where  the  light  of  the 
setting  sun  did  not  shine  slantwise  across  them. 

Then  he  did  not  pitch  his  tent  on  the  clouds  for 
the  night,  and  sleep  quietly  where  there  wasn't  any 
noise  at  all.  For  up  in  the  clouds  there  were  not 
any  trees  for  the  wind  to  rustle  through.  And  there 
wasn't  any  dust  in  the  air  and  the  dirt  was  not 
thickened  into  mud,  because  there  wasii't  any  ground 
at  all,  only  air  and  clouds. 

So  when  it  wasn't  night  any  more,  the  king 
did  not  wake  up  to  look  at  the  sunrise.  And 
the  bright  sun  did  not  shine  on  the  clouds  and  did 
not  melt  them.  And  so  the  king  and  his  soldiers 
did  not  fall  out  of  their  cloud  castle  into  the  loose 
naked  air,  because  there  weren't  any  castles,  and 
the  king  and  his  soldiers  were  not  any  of  them 
there. 

But  if  they  had  been  there  it  would  have  been 
bad  for  the  king,  don't  you  think  so  ?     And  after  he 


54  THE  BOOK  OF  KNIGHT  AND   BARBARA. 

had  slept  in  the  cloud  castle  one  night,  he  would 
have  been  glad  to  get  back  to  his  stone  'castle  on 
earth,  and  to  the  dirt  on  which  all  the  kings  there 
are,  and  all  the  other  folks,  must  build  whatever 
kind  of  castles  they  have. 


THE  SIX  KINGS   OF  YVETOT. 

rp  HERE  were  six  kings  of  Yvetot, 
-^    They  stood  up  in  an  awful  row, 
And  every  time  they  looked  around 
They  cast  their  eyes  upon  the  ground, 
And  when  they  saw  their  eyes  were  gone. 
They,  just  the  same,  kept  staring  on ; 
Then  threw  their  arms  up  in  the  air 
Until  they  had  no  arms  to  spare. 
But  if  a  queen  or  two  came  near. 
Then  every  king  would  lend  an  ear ; 
And  if  the  queen  had  cheeks  of  red. 
Then  every  king  would  lose  his  head. 

I  do  not  like  to  look  at  kings. 
They  do  such  very  awful  things ; 
And  actions  such  as  these  must  tend 
To  make  one's  hair  stand  up  on  end. 


THE   GHOST  WITH   THE  HORSEHAIR  WIG. 

ONCE  there  was  an  old  church  and  it  stood  by 
the  river,  and  nobody  went  to  meeting  there, 
and  so  it  got  full  of  owls  and  ghosts.  And  the  owls 
sat  up  in  the  tower  and  asked  "  Who  ?  Who  ?  Who  ? " 
all  the  time.  They  never  waited  for  any  answer,  and 
they  have  never  yet  found  out  Who.  The  seats  had 
all  been  taken  out  of  the  church  to  fit  up  the  new 
church  over  in  the  town,  so  the  ghosts  went  into 
the  empty  space  where  the  seats  had  been. 

The  ghosts  used  to  dance  in  the  church  every 
night  and  they  had  lots  of  fun,  because  they  could 
just  dance  right  through  each  other,  and  they  could 
dance  on  the  ceiling  just  as  well  as  on  the  floor,  and 
they  could  dance  all  night  without  getting  warm  or 
tired,  because  they  hadn't  any  bones  in  them  or  any 
blood — ^just  a  lot  of  ghost-stuff  held  together  by  some 
white  clothes.  And  they  could  see  in  the  dark  just 
as  well  as  in  the  daytime,  because  their  eyes  shone 
like  electric  lights. 

56 


THE  GHOST  WITH  THE  HORSEHAIR  WIG.  57 

And  when  they  were  having  a  great  time  dancing 
and  singing  ghost  songs  that  nobody  but  ghosts  can 
hear,  there  came  a  man  riding  by  on  a  bay  mare,  and 
he  rode  up  close  and  looked  into  the  window. 

They  were  having  gi'eat  fun,  and  one  ghost  that 
could  jump  higher  than  any  of  the  others  skipped 
around  so  that  the  man  outside  shouted,  "Well  done! 
Do  it  again  ! " 

And  all  the  ghosts  heard  him  and  they  were 
very  mad.  And  they  came  out  of  the  church  like 
a  swarm  of  bees  and  ran  after  the  man.  When 
he  saw  them  coming  he  whipped  the  bay  mare,  and 
she  ran  as  fast  as  she  could  toward  the  bridge  over 
the  river.  Now  ghosts  are  made  so  that  when  they 
come  to  a  running  stream  they  can't  get  across  it, 
but  just  go  oif  into  mist.  With  goblins  it  is 
different ;  the  only  thing  goblins  are  afraid  of  is 
fire,  and  they  can  paddle  in  the  water  just  like 
ducks. 

So  the  ghosts  leaped  after  him,  and  the  horse  ran 
till  she  came  right  up  on  the  bridge.  But  the  ghost 
that  could  jump  the  highest  ran  ahead  of  the  rest 
and  got  the  old  mare  by  the  tail,  and  off  the  tail 
came.  So  the  man  rode  home  in  the  dark  on  the 
old  bay   mare    which   had  not  any  tail.      And  the 


58 


THE  BOOK  OF  KNIGHT  AND  BARBARA. 


ghost  wears  the  horse's  tail  for  hair ;  and  if  you  ever 
go  by  the  old  church  by  the  bridge  of  Doon  at  mid- 
night, and  look  into  the  window,  you  will  see  that 
the  ghost  that  can  jump  the  highest  is  the  one  that 
wears  a  black  horsehair  wig. 


THE  MOUSE'S  DREAM. 

/^NCE  there  was  a  mouse  and  he  got  into  the 
^-^  cupboard  and  ate  all  the  cheese  he  could  hold, 
and  when  he  went  back  to  bed  in  his  little  nest  in 
the  hay-mow  he  dreamed  that  he  had  swallowed  a 
cat,  and  when  he  woke  up  in  the  morning  this  is  all 
that  he  could  remember  of  his  dream. 


All  he  coald  remember  of  his  dream. 


IVEDE-AVEDE  AND   THE  DRAGONS. 

/^NCE  there  was  a  king,  -and  his  daughter  was 
^^  stolen  away  by  a  dragon,  and  the  dragon  car- 
ried her  down  into  a  deep  well,  and  dropped  her  into 
the  water,  and  then  sat  on  the  rocks  over  her  head  to 


The  dragon. 


see  that  she  stayed  there.  So  I  don't  know  what  the 
king  would  have  done  if  it  hadn't  been  for  a  boy 
who  lived  near  by,  whose  name  was  Ivede-Avede. 
This  little  boy  saw  the  dragon  and  the  princess  there, 


60 


THE  BOOK  OF  KNIGHT  AND  BARBARA. 


SO  he  Jumped  down  into  the  well,  and  when  he  came 
down  he  broke  the  dragon's  neck.  Then  he  was  down 
there  alone  with  the  princess,  and  the  cold  water  was 
up  to  their  shoulders,  and  made  them  both  shiver. 


Stx)lcn  away  by  a  dragon. 


IVEDE-AVEDE  AND  THE  DRAGONS. 


61 


By  and  by  the  mate  of  the  dragon  came  along 
and  flew  down  backward  into  the  well,  just  as 
dragons  do,  not  suspecting  that  anything  was  wrong. 
Then  the  little  boy,  Ivede-Avede,  took  hold  of  the 
princess  with  one  hand  and  with  the  other  he  took 
the  dragon  whose  neck  was  broken,  and  pinched  its 
mouth  tight  on  to  the  other  dragon's  tail.     The  live 


He  jumped  down  into  the  well. 


dragon  was  very  much  scared  and  flew  out,  scream- 
ing with  all  his  might,  for  he  did  not  know  what 
was  biting  him.  But  Ivede-Avede  held  tight  to  the 
dead  dragon's  head,  holding  the  teeth  fast  on  the 
live  dragon's  tail.  And  he  kept  the  princess  on  his 
other  arm,  and  so  they  were  both  hauled  out  to  the 
top  of  the  well.     Then  he  let  go,  and  the  dragon 


62 


THE  BOOK  OF  KNIGHT  AND  BARBARA. 


He  pinched  its  mouth  on  to  the  other  dragon's  tail. 


IVEDE-AVEDE  AND  THE  DRAGONS. 


63 


sailed  off  high  into  the  air  with  the  dead  dragon  fast 
on  his  tail. 

Then  the  little  boy 
took  the  princess  home 
to  his  house  and  put  dry 
things  on,  and  the  prin- 
cess put  on  some  of  his 
mother's  old  clothes  —  a 
red  petticoat  and  an  old 
yellow  sunbonnet.  Then 
when  they  were  all  warm 
and  dry  he  hitched  his 
horse,  Old  Charley,  to  his 
father's  buckboard  and 
started  off  across  the  moun- 
tain to  the  king's  palace 
with  the  princess.  When  he  came  driving  across  the 
garden  of  the  palace,  the  king  was  very  glad  to  see 


With  the  dead  dragon  fast  on 
his  tail. 


On  the  way  to  the  palace. 


64 


THE  BOOK  OP  KNIGHT  AND  BARBARA. 


Told  him  he  might  marry  the  princess. 

him  and  his  daughter  safe  and  sound,  with  the  red 
petticoat  and  yellow  sunbonnet.    So  the  king  took  off 


They  had  a  great  wedding. 


IVEDE-AVEDE  AND  THE  DRAGONS. 


65 


his  crown  and  bowed,  and  thanked  Ivede-Avede,  and 
invited  him  to  stay  to  dinner,  and  told  him  that  if 
he  liked  he  might  marry  the  princess.  Ivede-Avede 
said  that  he  had  to  take  Old  Charley  back  home  first, 
and  when  he  had  done  that  he  would  come  to  dinner 
at  the  king's  palace.    And  so  he  drove  the  horse  back 


The  princess  painting  dragons  on  the  plates. 


to  his  father's  house,  and  then  put  on  his  Sunday 
clothes  and  walked  over  the  mountain  to  the  palace. 
The  king  and  the  princess  met  him  at  the  garden 
gate,  and  they  had  a  great  wedding,  and  there  was  a 
picture  of  a  dragon  on  each  one  of  the  plates  at  the 
table.  The  princess  had  painted  them  all  while 
Ivede-Avede  was   taking  Old   Charley  back  to  his 


66 


THE  BOOK  OF  KNIGHT  AND  BARBARA. 


father's  house.  But  he  forgot  to  take  home  the  red 
petticoat  and  the  yellow  sunbonnet,  and  if  you  ever 
go  to  the  king's  palace  you  can  see  them,  for  the 
princess  has  them  yet. 


There  was  a  picture  of  a  dragon  on  each  plate. 


L^ 


THE   OGEE   THAT   PLAYED   JACKSTRAWS. 

/^^NCE  there  was  a  terrible  giant  ogre,  and  he 
^-^  lived  in  a  liuge  castle  that  was  built  right  in 
the  middle  of  a  valley.  All  men  had  to  pass  by 
it  when  they  came  to  the  king's  palace  on  the  rock 
at  the  head  of  the  valley.  And  they  were  all  ter- 
ribly afraid  of  the  ogre,  and  ran  just  as  fast  as 
they  could  when  they  went  by.  And  when  they 
looked  back  as  they  were  nmning,  they  could  see 
the  ogre  sitting  on  the  wall  of  his  castle.  And  he 
scowled  at  them  so  fiercely  that  they  ran  as  fast  as 
ever  they  could.  For  the  ogre  had  a  head  as  large 
as  a  barrel,  and  great  black  eyes  sunk  deep  under 
long  bushy  eyelashes.  And  when  he  opened  his 
mouth  they  saw  that  it  was  full  of  teeth,  and  so. 
they  ran  away  faster  than  ever,  wdthout  caring  to 
see  anything  more. 

And  the  king  wanted  to  get  rid  of  the  ogre,  and 
he  sent  his  men  to  drive  the  ogre  away  and  to  tear 
down  his  castle.     But  the  ogre  scowled  at  them  so 


68      THE  BOOK  OF  KNIGHT  AND  BARBARA. 

savagely  that  their  teeth  began  to  fall  out,  and  they 
all  turned  back  and  said  they  dare  not  fight  such  a 
horrid  creature.  Then  Roger,  the  king's  son,  rode 
his  black  horse  Hurricane   up  against   the    door  of 


Roger  and  his  horse  Hurricane. 

the  ogre's  castle,  and  struck  hard  against  the  door 
with  his  iron  glove.  Then  the  door  opened  and  the 
ogre  came  out  and  seized  Roger  in  one  hand  and  the 
great  black  horse  in  the  other  and  rubbed  their 
heads  together,  and  while  he  did  this  he  made  them 
very  small.  Then  he  tumbled  them  over  the  wall 
into  the  ogre's  garden.  And  they  crawled  through  a 
hole  in  the  garden  fence  and  both  ran  home,  Roger 
one  way  and  Hurricane  the  other,  and  neither  dared 
tell  the  king  nor  anyone  else  where  he  had  been,  nor 


THE  OGftE  THAT   PLAYED  JACKSTRAWS. 


69 


w^at  the  ogre  had  done  to  him.     But  it  was  two 
or  three  days  before  they  became  large  again. 

Then  the  king  sent  out  some  men  with  a  can- 
non to  batter  down  the  walls  of  the  ogre's  castle. 
But  the  ogre  sat  on  the  wall  and  caught  the  can- 
non balls  in  his  hand  and  tossed  them  back  at  the 
cannon,  so  that  they  broke  the  wheels  and  scared 
away  all  the  men.  And  when  the  cannon  sounded 
the  ogre  roared  so  loudly  that  all  the  windows  in  the 
king's  palace  were  broken,  and  the  queen  and  all  the 


The  ogre  tumbled  them  over  the  wall. 

princesses  went  down  into  the  cellar  and  hid  among 
the  sugar  barrels,  and  stuffed  cotton  in  their  ears  till 
the  noise  should  stop.  And  ^^hatever  the  king's 
men  tried  to  do  the  ogre  made  it  worse  and  worse. 


70 


THE  BOOK  OF  KNIGHT  AND  BARBARA. 


And  at  last  no  one  dared  to  go  out  into  the  valley 
beside  the  ogre's  castle,  and  no  one  dared  look  at  it 
from  anywhere,  because  when  the  ogre  scowled  all 
who  saw  him  dropped  to  the  ground  with  fear,  and 


The  queen  and  princesses  hid  in  the  cellar. 


their  teeth  began  to  fall  out,  and  when  the  ogre 
roared  there  was  no  one  who  could  bear  to  hear  it. 

So  the  king  and  all  his  men  hid  in  the  cellar 
of  the  castle  with  the  queen  and  the  princesses,  and 
they  stuffed  their  ears  full  of  cotton,  and  the  ogre 
scowled  and  roared  and  had  his  own  way. 

But  there  was  one  little  boy  named  Pennyroyal, 


THE  OGRE  THAT  PLAYED  JACKSTRAWS. 


71 


who  tended  the  black  horse  Hurricane,  and  he  was 
not  afraid  of  anything  because  he  was  a  little  boy. 
And  the  little  boy  said  he  would  go  out  and  see  the 
ogre  and  tell  him  to  go  away.  And  they  were  all 
so  scared  that  they  could  not  ask  him  not  to  go.  So 
Pennyroyal  put  on  his  hat,  iilled  his  pockets  with 
marbles  and  took  his  kite  under  his  arm,  and  went 
down  the  valley  to  the  castle  of  the  ogre.  The  ogre 
sat  on  the  wall  and  looked  at  him,  but  the  little  boy 
was  not  afraid,  and  so  it  did  the  ogre  no  good  to 


May  I  come  in?"   said  Pennyroyal. 


scowl.  Then  Pennyroyal  knocked  on  the  ogre's 
door,  and  the  ogre  opened  it  and  looked  at  the  lit- 
tle boy. 

"  Please,  Mr.  Ogre,  may  I  come  in  ? "  said  Penny- 

6 


72 


THE  BOOK  OF  KNIGHT  AND  BAPBARA. 


royal ;  and  the  ogre  opened  the  door,  and  the  little 
boy  began  to  walk  around  the  castle  looking  at  all 
the  things.  There  was  one  room  filled  with  bones, 
but  the  ogre  was  ashamed  of  it,  and  did  not  want  to 
let  the  little  boy  see  it.     So  when  Pennyroyal  was 


m 


Ri^^^^^^Sf^^-^ 


(gr^^ 


There  was  one  room  filled  with  bones. 

not  looking  the  ogre  just  changed  the  room  and 
made  it  small,  so  that  instead  of  a  room  full  of 
bones  it  became  just  a  box  of  jackstraws.  And  the 
big  elephant  he  had  there  to  play  with  he  made  into 
a  lap-elephant,  and  the  little  boy  took  it  in  his  hand 
and  stroked  its  tiny  tusks  and  tied  a  knot  in  its  trunk. 


THE  OGRE  THAT  PLAYED  JACKSTRAWS.  Y3 

And  everything  that  could  frighten  the  little  boy  the 
ogre  made  small  and  pretty,  so  that  they  had  great 
times  together. 

And  by  and  by  the  ogre  grew  smaller  and 
smaller,  and  took  off  his  ugly  old  face  with  the 
long  teeth  and  bushy  eyebrows  and  dropped  them  on 
the  floor  and  covered  them  with  a  wolf- skin.  Then 
he  sat  down  on  the  wolf-skin  and  the  little  boy  sat 
down  on  the  floor  beside  him,  and  they  began  to  play 
jackstraws  with  the  box  of  jackstraws  that  had  been 
a  room  full  of  bones.  The  ogre  had  never  been  a  boy 
himself,  so  jackstraws  was  the  only  game  he  knew 
how  to  play.  Then  the  elephant  he  had  made  small 
snuggled  down  between  them  on  the  floor.  And  as 
they  played  with  each  other,  the  castle  itself  grew 
small,  and  shrank  away  until  there  was  just  room 
enough  for  them  and  for  their  game. 

Up  in  the  palace,  wh^n  the  ogre  stored  roaring, 
the  king's  men  looked  i.  and  saw  that  the  ogre's 
castle  was  gone.  Then  Roger,  the  king's  son,  called 
for  Pennyroyal.  But  when  he  could  not  find  the 
boy,  he  saddled  the  black  horse  Hurricane  himself 
and  rode  down  the  valley  to  where  the  ogre's  castle 
had  been.  When  he  came  back  he  told  the  king 
that  the  ogre  and  his  castle  were  all  gone.     Where 


74  THE  BOOK  OF   KNIGHT  AND  BARBAHA. 

the  castle  stood  there  was  nothing  left  but  a  board 
tent  under  the  oak  tree,  and  in  the  tent  there  were 
just  two  little  boys  playing  jackstraws,  and  between 
them  on  the  ground  lay  a  candy  elephant. 


Just  two  little  boys  and  a  candy  elephant. 

That  was  all.  For  the  terrible  ogre  was  one  of 
that  kind  of  ogres  that  will  do  to  folks  just  what 
folks  do  to  him.  There  isn't  any  other  kind  of 
ogre. 


THE  LEPRECHAUN   AND   THE   FIELD   OF   GOLD. 

ACROSS  the  sea  on  the  Green  Island  there  lives 
-  a  little  man  they  call  the  Leprechaun.  He  is 
a  queer  little  fellow,  not  as  big  as  Santa  Claus,  and 
though  he  is  Santa  Claus's  brother  the  two  do  not 
look  one  bit  alike.  For  the  Leprechaun  wears  the 
finest  of  clothes,  red  coat,  green  vest,  white  trousers, 
and  shoes  "  that  for  the  shine  of  them  w^ould  shame 
a  looking-glass."  He  never  sits  down  except  when 
his  shoes  need  polishing,  and  then  he  whips  them  oif 
and  gives  them  a  rub  up  and  down  with  a  mullein 
leaf,  and  this  makes  them  all  right  again.  He  does 
not  wear  a  long  beard  like  Santa  Claus,  but  he  has  a 
high  pointed  hat,  and  he  sticks  the  point  of  it  into 
the  ribs  of  folks  that  trouble  him,  and  then  they  are 
tickled  so  that  they  can  not  do  anything  but  just 
laugh  and  let  him  alone.  The  Leprechaun  hates  all 
girls  because  he  is  so  little,  and  girls  always  like  the 
big  boys  best.  And  he  hates  all  school  teachers,  too, 
and  in  this  he  is  right,  for  the  school  teachers  on  the 


76  THE  BOOK  OF  KNIGHT  AND  BARBARA. 

Green  Island  all  say  that  there  isn't  any  such  person 
as  a  Leprechaun,  just  as  the  school  teachers  with  us 
say  that  there  isn't  any  such  a  man  as  Santa  Claus ; 
but  if  there  wasn't  any  Santa  Claus,  how  could  the 
Leprechaun  be  his  brother  ? 

If  you  are  looking  for  the  Leprechaun,  you  will 
never  find  him,  and  that  is  why  the  school  teachers 
think  that  there  isn't  any  such  thing,  for  they  are 
always  looking  out  for  him.  But  children  can  find 
him,  and  the  best  place  to  look  is  among  the  berry 
bushes  by  the  side  of  the  ditch,  when  the  sunshine  is 
warm,  and  where  he  won't  get  the  shine  oif  his  shoes 
when  he  is  looking  for  berries.  Then  if  you  see  him 
with  his  shoes  off  you  can  catch  him,  but  you  must 
never  take  your  eyes  off  from  him,  either  before  or 
after  you  have  him  in  your  hands.  You  must  never 
mind  \vhat  he  says,  and  you  must  follow  him  through 
the  ditch,  into  the  mud  or  among  the  berry  bushes, 
anywhere  he  goes.  If  you  take  your  eyes  off  from 
him  you  will  never  see  him  again  so  long  as  you  live. 
It  does  not  matter  how  wet  or  dirty  you  get  your 
clothes  if  you  only  catch  him.  For  he  can  tell  you 
where  the  gold  is,  and  if  you  can  hold  him  long 
enough,  and  do  not  let  him  get  into  his  shoes  again, 
all  the  gold  in  the  world  is  yours. 


THE  LEPRECHAUX  AND  THE  FIELD  OF  GOLD.   77 

But  you  Lave  to  be  very  careful  in  dealing  ^vith 
him,  even  after  you  get  him.  They  say  that  Tom 
O'Donovan  once  caught  a  Leprechaun  and  made  him 
show  the  right  place  to  dig  for  gold.  It  was  almost 
night  when  the  Leprechaun  brought  him  to  the 
place  where  the  gold  was  hidden.  So  Tom  set  a 
stick  in  the  ground  and  hung  his  old  hat  on  it  to 
mark  the  spot.  The  old  hat  had  the  rim  loose  on 
the  front  so  that  Tom  could  look  risrht  out  throuo^h 
it.  When  he  came  back  in  the  morning,  the  whole 
countiy  was  covered  ^vith  sticks  set  up  and  an  old 
hat  on  every  one,  and  every  hat  had  the  rim  loose  in 
fi'ont,  hanging  down  so  that  if  the  stick  had  eyes  it 
could  look  out  through  the  rip  in  the  rim.  And 
Tom  could  not  tell  which  was  his  own  hat,  so  he 
never  knew  which  stick  to  dig  under.  All  he  got 
for  his  gold  was  a  cartload  of  old  hats.  And  his 
family  have  been  wearing  these  old  hats  ever  since, 
and  they  will  never,  never  get  them  all  worn  out. 

One  day  a  little  boy  saw  the  Leprechaun  picking 
hemes  by  the  side  of  the  ditch.  So  he  stepped  up 
very  softly  behind  and  grabbed  the  little  man  and 
carried  him  up  on  the  bank,  holding  him  by  one  leg 
just  as  he  used  to  hold  his  sister's  doll.  The  Lepre- 
chaun scratched  and  screamed  and  screeched  with  all 


V8       THE  BOOK  OF  KNIGHT  AND  BARBARA. 

his  miglit,  but  the  little  boy  would  not  let  him  go. 
And  he  wouldn't  take  his  eyes  oil  from  him  either,  so 
the  Leprechaun  couldn't  help  himself  at  all.  "  Now 
tell  me  where  the  gold  is,"  said  the  little  boy.  "  Let 
me  go  first,"  said  the  Leprechaun.  But  the  boy 
would  not,  and  squeezed  him  very  hard.  "  How  can 
I  find  the  gold,"  said  the  Leprechaun,  "  if  you  w^on't 
let  me  walk  ? "  "  Let  me  tie  you  up  first,"  said  the 
boy,  and  he  took  a  string  out  of  his  pocket  and  tied 
it  into  the  Leprechaun's  red  belt  with  the  golden 
buckle  on  it.  "  When  I  find  the  gold,  will  you  let 
me  go?"  said  the  Leprechaun.  And  the  boy  said 
he  would. 

Then  the  little  man  started  off  over  the  hills,  and 
the  boy  held  him  by  the  string  and  never  took  his 
eyes  off  from  him.  And  they  went  across  the  moss  of 
the  bog  and  the  rocks  of  the  hill  and  through  the 
woods  and  down  the  stream  till  they  came  to  a  big 
meadow,  when  the  sun  shone  bright  and  warm  and 
the  yellow  buttercups  stood  thick  in  the  tall  grass. 

"  Here  is  the  gold  for  you, "  said  the  little  man. 
"  Where,  where  ? ''  said  the  boy,  for  he  wanted  lots 
of  gold  to  buy  candy  and  toys  and  fireworks,  and  he 
wanted  to  get  it  as  quick  as  he  could. 

"  Why,  all  around  you ;  just  look,  "  said  the  Lep- 


THE  LEPRECHAUN  AND  THE  FIELD  OF  GOLD.    79 

recliaun.  But  all  the  boy  saw  was  the  yellow  but- 
tercups shining  in  the  sun. 

Then  the  little  boy  said,  "That  isn't  the  right 
kind  of  gold.  I  want  money  gold ;  I  want  to  buy 
candy.  Give  me  money  gold,  and  then  you  can  go 
where  you  want  to.  " 

"Oh,  is  that  all?"  said  the  Leprechaun;  "you  do 
not  want  gold  at  all,  but  just  candy.  If  my  gold  is 
not  good  for  you,  you  can't  have  any  gold  of  any 
kind.  If  you  want  just  candy,  you  had  better  go 
and  find  Santa  Claus. " 

Then  the  little  boy  shut  his  eyes  and  began  to 
cry.  And  the  Leprechaun  whisked  oif  his  belt  and 
slipped  away  as  spry  as  a  monkey,  and  sat  down  on 
the  bank  and  rubbed  off  his  shoes  with  a  mullein 
leaf.  Then  a  cloud  came  before  the  sun  and  all  the 
buttercups  were  closed,  so  that  there  wasn't  any  more 
gold,  and  it  wouldn't  buy  candy  if  thei'e  were  any. 
And  the  little  boy  walked  home  alone  through  the 
green  grass,  and  he  will  never  see  the  Leprechaun 
again  so  long  as  he  lives,  and  all  because  he  wanted 
the  wrong  kind  of  gold,  and  because  when  he  was 
looking  for  it  he  took  his  eyes  off  the  little  man  and 
let  him  get  away. 


THE  POOKA  AXD  THE  LEPEECHAUX. 

{With  acknowledgments  to  D.  A.  Mc Anally.) 

■yN  the  Green  Island  the  Pooka  used  to  live.  You 
-^  would  have  thought  that  he  was  a  horse  from 
the  looks  of  him,  but  there  was  never  a  saddle  nor 
bridle  on  him,  and  he  never  shed  his  hair  as  real 
horses  do.  And  at  night  when  he  went  clattering, 
clattering  down  the  road  the  fire  flamed  out  of  his 
nostrils  so  that  he  could  see  the  way,  and  his  eyes 
were  red  as  fire,  too.  People  who  looked  him  in  the 
eye  saw  that  he  was  no  real  horse,  but  the  Pooka,  and 
so  they  ^vere  afraid. 

For  when  the  Pooka  found  anybody  on  a  road 
alone  at  night,  he  would  speak  to  him  just  like  a 
man,  and  a  nice  and  civil  man  too,  asking  him  the 
time  of  night  and  the  way  to  town,  and  talking  about 
the  weather,  and  all  that.  Then,  if  the  man  looked 
tired,  he  would  ask  him  to  ride  on  his  back,  as  he  was 
going  his  way.  But  when  any  one  gave  the  Pooka  a 
chance,  the  beast  would  grab  him  by  the  collar  and 

80 


THE  POOKA  AND  THE  LEPRECHAUN.        81 

throw  biin  on  bis  back — and  then  what  a  ride  he 
^vould  have ! 

Up  the  hill  and  down  the  dale  the  Pooka  would 
go,  into  the  bogs,  through  the  woods,  and  leaj3ing 
over  the  rocks.  And  the  man  would  hang  on  to  the 
Pooka's  mane  with  both  hands,  while  the  Pooka 
would  kick  up  his  heels;  and  by  the  light  of  his  nos- 
trils the  rider  would  see  all  sorts  of  horiid  things — 
spooks  and  dragons  and  goblins  and  were-wolves — so 
that  he  was  just  as  afraid  of  falling  off  as  he  was  of 
the  Pooka.  And  when  it  was  morning,  the  Pooka 
would  shake  the  rider  off  anywhere  he  happened  to 
be.  Into  the  ditch  he  would  fall,  and  there  he  would 
lie  till  somebody  came  along  and  picked  him  up. 
And  sometimes  it  would  take  the  man  a  month  to 
find  his  way  home  again.  So  the  people  of  the  Green 
Island  got  very  tired  of  having  the  Pooka  roaming 
about  all  night,  and  never  shedding  his  hair  as  a 
decent  horse  should.  It  was  not  nice  to  have  him  all 
the  time  talking  to  people  just  as  civil  as  if  he  was  an 
old  friend,  and  then  taking  them  off  no  one  knows 
where. 

Men  say  that  the  old  king  Brian  Boru,  who 
ruled  over  the  Green  Island  a  long  time  ago,  once 
caught   the    Pooka  and   taught   him  better  manners, 


82  THE  BOOK  OF   KNIGHT  AND  BARBARA. 

and  made  him  shed  too,  just  like  any  common 
horse. 

Once  on  a  time  the  king  went  out  into  the  great 
woods  when  the  Pooka  had  been  running  about,  and 
found  a  long  black  hair  from  the  Pooka's  tail  stick- 
ing to  a  blackberry  bush.  And  with  this  he  made 
some  magic.  I  can  not  tell  how  he  did  this,  because 
I  have  never  been  a  king,  and  only  a  king  knows 
what  a  king  can  do. 

Then  one  night  the  king  put  the  magic  in  his 
pocket  and  walked  out  in  the  dark  to  see  if  he 
couldn't  find  the  Pooka.  And  when  he  came  out  into 
the  big  woods,  he  heard  the  hoofs  clattering,  clat- 
tering along,  and  he  saw  fire  shine  out  from  the  nos- 
trils and  eyes.  Pretty  soon  the  Pooka  came  along  as 
civil  as  you  please.  The  king  said,  "  Good  evening, 
Pooka!"  and  the  Pooka  said,  "How  do  you  do, 
king  ? "  And  the  king  said  that  it  was  a  fine  warm 
night,  and  the  Pooka  asked  the  king  where  he  was 
going. 

Then  when  they  had  walked  together  arm  in  arm 
for  some  time,  talking  about  all  sorts  of  things,  the 
king  began  to  get  tired.  And  the  Pooka  asked  him 
if  he  wouldn't  like  to  ride  with  him,  as  they  were  both 
going  the  same  way.     But  the  king  said,  "  I  would 


DIOGENES  AND  THE  NAUGHTY  BOYS.  I33 

came  to  the  bottom  of  the  hill.  But  the  next  day- 
Diogenes  thought  he  had  had  enough  of  that,  so  he 
got  a  lot  of  big  hooked  nails  and  nailed  them  all  over 
the  outside  of  his  tub.  Then  when  the  bad  boys 
came  to  roll  him  down  the  hill,  their  clothes  caught 
in  the  hooked  nails  and  they  went  rolling  along  with 
the  tub  and  with  Diogenes.  When  they  had  gone 
ka-bump  !  ka-bump  !  ka-bump  !  to  the  bottom  of  the 
hill,  Diogenes  came  out  of  his  tub  and  looked  for 
the  bad  boys,  and  there  they  were  all  pressed  out 
flat  just  like  pancakes,  and  they  weren't  much  thick- 
er than  wall-paper.  So  Diogenes  gathered  them  up, 
and  got  some  mucilage,  and  papered  his  tub  inside 
and  out  with  the  flattened-out  bad  boys.  Ever 
since  then  the  bad  boys  of  Corinth  have  gone  to  the 
other  side  of  the  town  whenever  they  want  to  have  a 
little  fun. 


HOW  WE   CAPTURED  TROY. 

{After  an  Ancient  Document.) 

T  I  ^HERE  once  were  some  Trojans,  of  course, 
-■-    So  we  Greeks  built  a  big  wooden  horse ; 

How  Achilles  did  grin 

As  we  boys  clambered  in, 
And  he  said,  "  How  is  this  for  a  horse  ? " 

We  painted  the  beast  black  and  red, 
And  Achilles  he  waggled  its  head, 

While  behind  for  a  tail 

Nestor's  whiskers  did  trail, 
But  we  might  have  used  pea  straw  instead. 

Then  we  fixed  up  four  legs  for  the  horse. 
And  they  made  me  a  fore-leg,  of  course, 

With  Epeus  and  Pyrrhy 

And  Patsy  O'Leary, 
We  trotted  him  round  on  his  course. 

We  tied  the  great  horse  to  a  tree. 
Then  the  Trojans  all  came  out  to  see ; 

134 


THE  POOKA  AND  THE  LEPRECHAUN.        83 

like  to  ride,  but  I  am  afraid  you  are  shedding  and 
I  would  not  want  to  get  horsehairs  all  over  my 
clothes." 

But  the  Pooka  said,  "  I  am  no  common  horse,  I 
never  shed,  and  you  will  never  get  one  of  my  hairs  on 
you,  for  all  my  hair  is  magic  and  it  is  all  part  of  me." 

"  Is  that  so  ? "  said  the  king.  Then  the  king  told 
his  companion  how  nice  it  was  to  be  young  and  strong 
as  the  Pooka  was.  "  I  have  heard  of  you  for  many 
years,"  he  said,  "  but  I  had  no  idea  how  young  you 
were  ;  you  don't  seem  to  be  more  than  four  years  old. 
I  never  saw  a  grown-up  horse  before  that  looked  so 
young." 

"  How  old  do  you  think  I  am  ?  "  said  the  Pooka. 
"Why,  that  is  hard  to  tell,"  said  the  king;  "but  if 
you  will  open  your  mouth  and  let  me  look  at  your 
teeth,  maybe  I  can  guess." 

So  the  Pooka  laughed  and  opened  his  mouth 
very  wide  to  let  the  king  .guess  how  old  he  was. 
Then  the  king  took  his  magic  out  of  his  pocket  and 
jammed  it  down  the  Pooka's  throat,  and  the  horse- 
hair in  it  became  an  iron  bit,  and  the  rest  of  the 
magic  became  a  stout  wire  bridle. 

Then  the  king  leaped  on  the  Pooka's  back,  and 
away  they  went !      The  Pooka  jumped  and  kicked 


84  THE  BOOK  OF  KNIGHT  AND  BARBARA. 

and  spurted  fire  from  his  nose,  but  it  was  no  use. 
Away  he  had  to  go,  and  away  the  king  went  with 
him,  and  drove  him  wherever  he  would.  And  when 
the  Pooka  stopped  the  king  would  lash  him  with  the 
long  end  of  his  wire  bridle  and  prick  him  with  his 
spurs  till  his  hair  came  loose  and  he  began  to  shed 
just  like  any  other  horse.  This  was  because  the 
magic  Avas  coming  out  of  him,  for  when  the  magic  is 
out  of  a  Pooka  he  is  just  a  plain,  common  horse. 

Then  the  king  rode  him  up  to  a  steep  hill  that 
stood  all  alone  in  the  woods  between  two  moun- 
tains. And  around  and  around  this  hill  he  made 
the  Pooka  canter  up  to  the  very  top.  Then  he  gal- 
loped down  the  same  way,  then  right  back  up  again, 
and  so  on,  up  and  down  all  night. 

When  morning  came  the  king  and  the  Pooka  had 
made  a  regular  road  like  a  corkscrew  clear  around 
the  hill,  and  from  bottom  to  top  and  from  the  top  to 
the  bottom.  And  the  hill  is  there  to  this  day,  and 
they  call  it  the  Pooka  Hill,  and  if  you  ever  go  to  the 
Green  Island  you  will  see  it  just  where  the  king  and 
the  Pooka  left  it,  unless  you  happen  to  be  looking  for 
something  else. 

When  it  was  daylight  the  king  rode  the  Pooka 
home  and  he  was  all  tamed,  and  ever  since  then  he 


THE  POOKA  AND  THE  LEPRECHAUN.        85 

lias  shed  his  hair,  just  as  he  ought  to,  every  fall  and 
spring. 

After  that  time  when  the  Pooka  finds  a  man  on 
the  road  at  night  he  never  says  a  word  to  him,  unless 
the  man  is  lying  in  the  ditch.  If  he  is,  then  the 
Pooka  picks  him  up  and  gives  him  a  ride  all  over 
the  country ;  but  wherever  he  goes,  he  must  bring 
the  man  back  at  daylight  and  leave  him  in  the  very 
same  ditch  where  he  found  him.  And  sometimes  the 
man  who  sleeps  in  the  ditch  never  really  rides  at  all, 
but  just  dreams  of  the  Pooka.  Then  when  he  wakes 
up  he  does  not  know  w^hether  he  has  been  on  the 
Pooka's  back  or  not,  unless  he  finds  some  Pooka  hairs 
on  his  clothes.  If  he  does  that,  there  is  magic  in 
them,  and  some  day  the  Pooka  will  come  back  and 
give  him  another  ride.  If  he  doesn't  want  another 
lide,  he  must  change  his  clothes.  That  is  why  men 
who  fall  to  sleep  in  the  ditches  always  wear  old  rag- 
ged clothes,  and  they  always  leave  them  there  by  the 
side  of  the  road  if  they  find  any  Pooka  hairs  on 
them. 

One  night  the  Pooka  came  along  and  found  a 
Leprechaun  by  the  side  of  the  ditch  with  his  shoes 
off,  rubbing  them  up  and  down  wnth  a  mullein  leaf. 

It  was  not  a  real  ditch,  for  the  Leprechaun  has 


86       THE  BOOK  OP  KNIGHT  AND  BARBARA. 

magic  in  his  shoes,  and  wherever  you  find  him  he  is 
sitting  on  the  side  of  some  ditch  and  around  him 
the  briars  grow  and  wild  roses.  And  all  this  is 
there  whether  any  ditch  is  really  there  or  not. 

So  the  Pooka  came  along  and  the  Leprechaun 
was  brushing  his  shoes,  just  as  he  always  does. 
And  they  both  said  good-evening,  just  as  civil  as 
they  knew  how.  But  after  they  had  talked  awhile 
the  Pooka  reached  over  and  took  the  Leprechaun 
in  his  teeth  and  threw  him  over  on  his  back.  Then 
he  cantered  away,  and  the  Leprechaun  hung  to  his 
mane  and  away  they  went.  All  night  long  they 
clattered  do^^^l  the  road,  but  when  the  Pooka  came 
to  bring  the  Leprechaun  back  to  where  he  came 
from  the  ditch  wasn't  there.  And  he  looked  for 
it  up  and  down  the  road  everywhere,  but  he  never 
found  it.  It  was  a  magic  ditch,  and  there  was  more 
magic  in  the  Leprechaun  than  there  was  left  in  the 
Pooka  after  the  king  rode  him  so  hard. 

And  so  the  Pooka  could  never  put  the  Lepre- 
chaun where  he  found  him,  and  he  can  never  put  him 
down  at  all.     And  there  they  are. 

And  on  dark  nights  when  the  rain  is  falling,  when 
men  hear  the  clatter  of  hoofs  and  see  the  fire  flash 
in  the  dark,  they  know  that  it  is  the  Pooka  with  the 


THE  POOKA  AND  THE  LEPRECHAUN.        87 

Leprechaun  on  his  back  hunting  for  the  ditch  where 
the  little  man  came  from.  And  till  he  finds  it  he 
cannot  take  anybody  else  on  his  back,  and  those  who 
fall  asleep  in  the  ditch  can  lie  there  till  morning,  and 
then  they  needn't  look  for  Pooka  hairs  on  their 
clothes. 


HOW  THE  PEIXCE  LEARNED  SOMETHING  NEW. 

( With  acknowledgments  to  Jacob  Grimm.) 

ONCE  there  was  a  prince,  and  he  heard  that  a 
princess  had  been  stolen  away  and  carried  to 
a  far-off   castle,  and  was   kept  shut   up   there,  and 


A  whole  lot  of  ghosts  running  np  and  down. 

guarded  with  dragons.     This  prince  had  had  a  great 
deal  of  trouble  because  he  was  not  afraid  of  any- 


HOW  THE   PRINCE   LEARNED  SOMETHING  NEW. 


89 


thing,  and  had  never  known  how  to  shiver.  He 
never  knew  what  shiver  meant,  and  he  wanted 
to  know  what  everything  meant,  so  he  felt  very 
badly  about  it.      When  he  was   told  what  terrible 


pinned  his  dagger  through  each  one  of  them. 

things  there  were  around  this  princess  he  said  he 
would  go  and  get  her  out,  and  maybe  something 
would  make  him  shiver. 

So  he  started  out  and  by  and  by  he  came  to  the 
castle  wall,  and  outside  the  wall  of  the  castle  he  saw 
a  band  of  ghosts  running  up  and  down,  clanking 
their  chains.  Then  he  took  out  from  his  belt  his 
dagger  of  illusion  and  pinned  it  through  each  one  of 
them,  then  stuck  it  into  the  wall,  and  the  ghosts 
could  not  help  themselves,  for  they  were  not  used  to 
being  treated  in  that  ^vay. 


90  THE  BOOK  OF  KNIGHT  AND  BARBARA. 

Then  lie  went  on  a  little  farther,  and  he  found  a 
great  dragon  with  its  mouth  wide  open  and  veiy 
ferocious.  So  he  took  a  little  double  spear  that  he 
had  with  pointed  barbs  on  both  ends.  He  held  the 
spear  in  one  hand  and  thrust  it  sidewise  into  the 
dragon's  mouth.  Then  he  shut  the  two  jaws  of  the 
dragon  together  wdth  the  other  hand,  and  fastened 
them  with  the  barbs  of  the  spear,  so  that  the  dragon 
could  not  open  his  mouth;  then  the  dragon,  of 
course,  had  nothing  more  to  do.  Then  he  went  on  a 
little  farther  and  found  a  great  octopus  reaching  out 
his  feelers  in  all  directions — cold,  clammy  feelers, 
with  sticking  places  all  along  them  from  one  end  to 
the  other.  So  he  took  his  knife  and  cut  off  a  lot  of 
feelers  and  rolled  them  into  a  bundle  and  held  the 
bundle  out  among  the  others.  And  all  the  other 
feelers  grabbed  these  and  held  on  to  them  with  all 
their  might.  So  the  prince  went  along  without  any- 
trouble. 

Then  he  went  on  a  little  farther  until  he  came  to 
a  great  hornets'  nest  full  of  hornets,  and  the  hornets 
came  out  buzzing  in  every  direction.  The  prince  had 
on  a  great  iron  coat  of  mail  and  the  hornets  stuck  their 
stings  into  the  coat  of  mail  and  couldn't  get  in  any 
farther,  and  by  and  by  they  got  tired  of  trying  to 


HOW  THE  PRINCE  LEARNED  SOMETHING  NEW.        91 

sting  iron.  Just  then  the  white  woman  who  was 
guarding  the  inside  of  the  castle  came  out,  and  the 
hornets  left  the  prince  and  all  took  hold  of  her  and 


He  came  to  a  great  hornets'  nest. 


stung  her  full  of  stings,  and  when  they  flew  away  the 
stings  held  on,  so  they  carried  her  off  with  them  to 
the  clouds. 

Then  the  prince  went  into  the  inside  room  of  the 
castle  where  the  princess  was.  "Good  evening, 
princess,"  he  said,  and  she  replied,  "  Good  evening, 
prince."     Then  he  asked  her  if  she  wouldn't  like  to 


92  THE  BOOK  OF   KNIGHT   AND   BARBARA. 

go  out  for  a  walk,  but  she  said  the  white  woman 
wouldn't  let  her.  The  prince  said  he  didn't  think 
the  white  woman  would  care  this  time,  and  when 
they  sent  to  ask  her  they  couldn't  find  her.  So  they 
went  out  for  a  walk  in  the  garden  of  the  castle. 
They  walked  under  the  empty  hornets'  nest,  and  the 


'Good  evening,  princess. 


hornets  were  still  flying  away  with  the  white  woman 
stung  fast  to  their  stings.  They  went  by  the  octopus, 
which  was  still  wrestling  with  its  own  arms,  holding 
the  old  feelers  fast  with  its  own  feelers.  Next  they 
came  to  the  old  dragon,  who  was  lying  all  in  a  heap 
because  he  couldn't  get  his  mouth  open,  for  to  open 


HOW   THE   PRINCE  LEARNED  SOMETHING  NEW.        93 

his  moutli  and  roar  is  all  any  dragon  is  good  for. 
Then  they  came  to  the  ghosts,  who  were  still  pinned 
tight  to  the  wall  with  the  dagger  of  illusion,  ^vhich 
was  the  same  sort  of  stuff  they  were  made  of,  and 
so  they  couldn't  help  themselves.  Then  they  went 
at  last  back  to  the  prince's  own  home,  because  the 
prince  said  he  didn't  think  the  white  w  oman  would 
care  any  more,  even  if  the  princess  never  came  back. 
Then  the  prince  and  princess  were  married,  and 
they  had  a  great  wedding,  but  the  prince  felt  worse 
than  ever  because  he  had  met  all  these  horrible 
ghosts  and  dragons  and  things,  and  they  had  not  all 
of  them  made  him  shiver  once.  So  while  he  was  sit- 
ting at  the  table  at  the  dinner  after  the  wedding  the 
princess  went  out  to  a  spring  and  dipped  up  a  bucket 
of  water  and  a  lot  of  little  cold  cat-fishes.  Then  she 
came  in  and  w^hen  no  one  was  looking  she  poured  all 
the  cold  fishes  down  the  prince's  back.  Then  the 
prince  said  "  Ugh  !"  and  they  all  laughed  because  he 
had  learned  how  to  shiver. 


THE  BOY-GHOST  AXD  THE  COW. 

ONCE  there  was  a  little  boy,  and  he  wanted  to 
be  a  ghost,  so  that  he  could  see  at  night,  and  so 
he  could  climb  up  on  the  roof  without  having  to 
hang  on.  So  one  night  he  woke  up  and  found  that 
he  had  his  wish.  He  was  a  ghost,  and  he  could 
see  in  the  dark.  And  he  went  right  up  the  chim- 
ney and  out  on  the  roof  and  slipped  down  the 
side  of  the  house  and  out  through  the  garden. 
There  he  stopped  to  think  what  he  could  do.  For 
there  wasn't  anybody  out  in  the  garden  for  him  to 
rush  up  to  and  say  "  Whoosh !"  For  that  is  what  ghosts 
are  always  doing  when  there  is  any  one  around.  He 
could  not  see  anybody  except  the  old  cow,  Jersey 
Lily,  who  was  fast  asleep  under  the  oak  tree,  with 
the  green  alfalfa  up  to  her  chin.  So  the  little  boy 
who  was  a  ghost  glided  up  to  the  old  cow  and  said 
"  Whoosh ! "  The  old  cow  opened  her  eyes  and 
looked  at  him  sleepily.  Then  the  little  boy  remem- 
bered that  ghosts  sometimes  take  off  their  heads  and 

94 


THE  BOY-GHOST  AND  THE  COW.  95 

throw  them  at  people.  So  he  took  off  his  head  and 
threw  it  at  the  old  cow,  and  it  caught  on  her  horns. 
The  point  of  one  horn  went  right  into  the  ghost's 
eye.  Then  the  cow  saw  that  she  had  a  ghost  head 
stuck  on  her  horn,  and  she  was  scared  and  began  to 
bellow  and  run  about  and  swing  her  tail  terribly. 

And  the  little  boy  ran  after  her,  but  he  couldn't 
see  in  the  dai'k  any  more  because  he  hadn't  any  head 
with  him.  And  the  faster  he  ran  the  louder  the  cow 
bellowed  and  the  more  he  couldn't  o-et  hold  of  his 
head.  All  at  once  the  cow  gave  a  great  whoojD,  and 
turned  round  and  ran  right  over  him,  and  he  grabbed 
at  the  head  just  as  he  tumbled  over  into  the  ditch 
with  the  old  cow  right  on  top  of  him.  And  when  he 
had  got  his  head  back  and  put  it  on  he  lay  right  on 
the  floor  under  the  bed,  and  the  bedclothes  were  all 
piled  up  over  him,  and  his  mother  had  turned  on  the 
electric  lights  so  that  she  could  see  in  the  dark  and 
find  out  what  was  the  matter  with  the  little  boy. 


THE  OTTO-HEINRICH  TOWER. 

TN  the  Castle  of  Heidelberg  in  Germany  there  is  a 
-■-  tall  tower  called  the  Otto-Heinrich  Tower.  In 
the  top  of  this  tower  there  is  a  window  that  has  no 
glass  in  it.  In  the  old  days  Prince  Otto  and  Prince 
Heinrich  lived  together  up  in  this  tower.  One  day 
they  had  a  quarrel  and  Heinrich   threw  Otto    out 


The  Castle  of  Heidelberg. 

through  the  window.  Otto  climbed  around  on  the 
roof,  where  he  was  safe,  but  every  little  while  he 
would  try  to  (fome  back  through  the  window  into  the 
room,  but  Heinrich  wouldn't  let  him.  So  he  stayed 
there  on  the  roof  all  that  night  and  the  next  day. 
The  tower  was  so  high  that  his  folks  could  not  see 
him,  and  they  did  not  know  where  to  look  for  him. 

96 


THE   OTTO-HEINRICIl   TOWER. 


97 


Then  lie  couldn't  stand  it  any  longer  and  lie  crawled 
around  on  the  building  until  he  got  where  he  could 
drop  down  on  the  ground.  And  then,  I  suppose,  he 
dropped  down. 

Many  years  have  gone  by  since  then,  and  Otto 
and  Heinrich  have  both  become  ghosts.  Now  when 
people  go  up  in  that  tower  and  sleep  there,  the 
first  they  know  they  will  see  somebody  putting  his 
head — a  long,  slim  head,  with  bright  yellow  hair 
and  burning  eyes — 
around  the  outside 
of  the  window,  try- 
ing to  crawl  in.  If 
you  let  the  head 
stay  there,  it  will 
slam  and  push  the 
window  and  fright- 
en you.  If  you 
open  the  window,  in  comes  the  ghost  of  Prince  Otto. 
Then  you  are  very  much  scared  and  run  down  the 
stairs  and  the  ghost  nins  after  you.  Down  you  go 
into  the  great  hall  below,  where  the  fire  is  burning  in 
the  grate.  But  the  minute  the  ghost  comes  into  the 
draught,  up  the  chimney  he  goes  and  comes  out  again 
on  the  outside  of  the  tower. 


long,  slim  liead. 


98 


THE  BOOK  OF  KNIGHT  AND  BARBARA. 


One  niglit  somebody  was  sleeping  there  and  he 
wouldn't  let  Prince  Otto  in.  Then  Otto  slammed 
the  window  so  much  that  he  shook  it  open,  and  hold- 


You  run  down  stairs  and  the  ghost  runs  after  you. 

ing  the  wdndow  in  front  of  him  in  his  arms  he  chased 
the  man  down  the  stairs.  Both  of  them  ran  very  fast 
and  the  ghost  stumbled  and  fell,  and  the  whole  win- 
dow pane  crashed  into  atoms.  'Then  he  went  up  the 
chimney  and  came  out  on  the  roof  again,  and  now 
since  the  window  is  gone  he  comes  in  and  goes  out 


THE  OTTO-HEINRICH   TOWER.  99 

of  the  tower  as  lie  pleases.     Nobody  can  stop  him, 
and  so  nobody  sleeps  in  the  tower  any  more. 

When  the  people  are  dancing  down  in  the  great 
room  below  and  are  having  a  good  time,  they  look  up 
at  the  ceiling,  and  all  at  once  they  see  the  face  of 
Heinrich.  He  is  a  ghost  too  now,  and  down  he 
comes  from   the    ceiling,   dropping   like   a   football. 


Up  the  chimney  goes  the  ghost. 

He  bounds  around  on  the  floor,  and  then  his  teeth 
fall  out,  and  if  you  pick  them  uj)  you  will  find  they 
are  red-hot.  Then  the  people  are  scared,  and  they  all 
run  out  of  the  building,  and  Heinrich's  ghost  head 
goes  bounding  after  them  until  it  gets  opposite  the 
fireplace  and  then  it  goes  up  the  chimney,  just  as  the 
ghost  of  Otto  does. 

Nobody  knows  w^hat  Heinrich  did  to  Otto  in  the 


100  THE  BOOK  OF  KNIGHT  AND  BARBARA. 

tower  when  he  put  him  out  the  window,  but  it  must 
have  been  something  very  queer,  to  make  their  ghosts 
act  so.  But  you  can  see  now  in  any  picture  of 
Heidelberg  Castle  that  there  is  no  glass  in  the  upper 
window  of  the  Otto-Heinrich  Tower,  and  there  will 
never  be  any  there. 


WHY  THE  PARROT  WAS  SO  STRONG. 

( With  acknowledgments  to  Charles  Lincoln  Edwards.) 

ONCE  all  the  animals  could  talk ;  the  dogs  could 
talk,  and  the  cats  and  the  owls  and  the  rats 
and  mice  and  chickens  and  the  lion  could  talk — he  is 
the  king  of  beasts — and  the  elephant  and  all  the  rest 
of  them.  But  when  the  children  came  they  talked  so 
much  that  the  animals  couldn't  get  a  word  in  edge- 
wise, and  so  they  all  gave  up  talking  and  attended  to 
their  other  business.  Only  the  paiTot,  he  went  off 
into  the  top  of  the  tree  and  kept  right  on  talking 
just  the  same,  and  one  day  when  he  sat  in  the  top  of 
the  tree  he  said  to  himself :  "  I  am  the  strongest  ani- 
mal there  is  in  the  world 4  I  can  pull  harder  than  all 
the  rest  of  them.  There  isn't  one  of  them  that  can 
pull  against  me."  Then  the  elephant  heard  it  and  he 
came  out  and  motioned  that  he  could  pull  harder 
than  the  parrot  could.  He  had  forgotten  how  to 
talk,  but  he  w^asn't  going  to  let  any  animal  brag  of 

being  stronger  than  he  was. 

101 


102  THE   BOOK   OF  KNIGHT   AND   BARBARA. 

So  tlie  parrot  got  a  long  rope  and  tied  it  to  the 
elephant's  front  teeth  and  went  back  into  the  top  of 
the  tree  and  told  the  elephant  when  he  said  "  G() ! "  to 
pull  with  all  his  might,  and  he  conld  pull  harder  than 
the  elephant  could.  Then  the  whale  heard  the  par- 
rot boasting  of  his  strength  and  telling  how  hard  he 
could  pull.  So  he  came  up  and  motioned  that  he 
could  pull  harder  than  any  other  animal.  Then  the 
parrot  said  he  was  the  strongest  animal  in  the  world, 
and  would  pull  against  the  whale.  So  he  took  the 
other  end  of  the  rope  that  wasn't  hitched  to  the  ele- 
phant and  tied  it  around  the  whale's  tail,  and  told 
the  whale  when  he  got  all  ready  and  said  "  Go  !  "  to 
pull  with  all  his  might.  So  the  pan-ot  flew  up  into 
the  top  of  the  tree  and  said  "  Go ! "  and  then  the  whale 
pulled  ^yith  all  his  might,  and  the  elephant  pulled 
with  all  his  might  too,  and  they  pulled  and  pulled, 
and  they  pulled  till  the  elephant's  front  teeth  were 
drawn  away  out  long,  and  they  pulled  till  the  whale 
was  spread  out  so  that  he  looked  like  a  fish.  Then 
they  pulled  and  pulled  till  by  and  by  the  rope  broke 
close  up  to  the  elephant's  teeth,  and  then  the  whale 
tumbled  down  ^vith  a  great  splash  into  the  sea.  Then 
he  couldn't  get  back  on  the  shore  at  all,  and  ever 
since  he  has  had  to  live  in  the  sea  just  like  a  fish. 


WHY  THE  PARROT  WAS  SO  STRONG.  103 

Then  the  elephant  claimed  that  he  had  beaten  the 
parrot,  and  the  whale  thought  that  he  had  beaten  the 
parrot  too.  When  the  whale  came  up  to  the  shore 
and  tried  to  tell  the  parrot  that  he  was  the  strongest 
he  had  so  much  water  in  his  nose  that  he  had  to 
blow  it  off  with  a  great  splash,  and  then  the  parrot 
and  everybody  else  ran  away,  and  there  wasn't  any- 
body that  the  whale  could  talk  to,  even  if  he  hadn't 
forgotten  how  to  talk.  Now  whenever  the  whale 
comes  to  the  top  of  the  water  he  tries  to  say  that  he 
was  the  strongest,  but  all  he  can  do  is  to  blow  the 
water  out  of  the  top  of  his  nose.  And  ever  since 
then  the  elephant  has  gone  around  with  a  long  piece 
of  rope  fastened  to  the  front  of  his  head  just  above 
his  teeth,  and  the  parrot  talks  away  to  himself  and 
says  that  he  is  the  king  of  birds,  and  no  other  bird 
can  say  that  he  is  not.  For  all  the  other  birds  have 
forgotten  how  to  talk. 


THE  LOST  XEXIA. 

( With  acknowledgments  to  Edward  Everett  Hale.) 

ONCE  there  was  a  sleeping  car  and  its  name  was 
Xenia,  and  they  painted  the  name  in  big  red  let- 
ters on  the  sides,  XENIA,  so  that  they  wouldn't  for- 
get it.  And  the  Xenia  ran  with  the  other  cars  over 
the  mountains,  and  once  they  put  it  at  the  very  end 
of  the  train. 

On  the  mountains  is  a  big  curv^e  they  call  the 
Horse-Shoe  Bend,  where  the  road  winds  away  around 
so  as  to  go  up  to  the  head  of  a  gully  that  is  too  deep 
to  build  a  bridge  across. 

So  one  day  the  train  came  do^vn  the  mountain 
toward  the  Horse-Shoe  Bend,  puffing  and  thundering 
along,  and  the  Xenia  was  the  last  car.  And  there 
was  a  little  boy  in  the  Xenia  that  had  a  red  cap  on, 
and  there  was  the  candy-boy,  who  had  his  basket 
full  of  peanuts.  And  there  were  lots  of  other  people 
there  and  the  porter,  but  they  were  grown-up  people, 
so  it  does  not  make  much  diiference  who  they  were. 

104 


THE  LOST  XENIA.  105 

And  the  engine  came  tliiindering  down  the  grade, 
and  the  engineer  saw  that  there  was  a  cow  lying 
do^^^l  on  the  track  on  the  Horse-Shoe  Bend.  He 
couldn't  stop  the  train,  and  he  had  to  do  some- 
thing. So  he  steered  the  train  to  the  right,  and 
put  on  all  the  steam,  and  straightened  out  the 
engine's  hind  legs,  so  that  she  left  the  track, 
and  gave  a  great  jump  into  the  air.  And  all  the 
train  came  jumping  into  the  air  behind  her.  And 
they  sailed  along  finely,  just  like  a  kite.  Then  the 
engineer  steered  the  engine  very  carefully,  and  when 
she  came  down  again  she  fell  right  on  the  track  on 
the  other  side  of  the  gully.  They  had  gone  straight 
across  the  bend  and  were  all  right  on  the  other  side, 
and  the  cars  came  right  after  the  engine,  and  they 
went  thundering  along  down  the  side  of  the  moun- 
tain. 

But  when  the  conductor  came  to  go  through  the 
train  he  noticed  that  one  car  was  gone.  They  couldn't 
find  the  Xenia  anywhere,  and  the  little  boys  and  girls 
couldn't  buy  any  peanuts,  for  the  candy-boy  was 
gone  too. 

And  the  conductor  telegraphed  back.  And  men 
went  down  into  the  gully  and  all  through  the 
^voods    about    the    Horse-Shoe    Bend    and    hunted 


106  THE  BOOK  OP  KNIGHT  AND  BARBARA. 

for  the  lost  car,  but  they  couldn't  find  it,  and 
they  haven't  found  it  yet.  Probably  it  is  not 
there.  But  they  don't  know.  All  they  know 
is  that  a  few  days  later  the  men  were  looking  at 
the  great  white  moon  through  the  big  telescope 
at  the  Lick  Observatory  up  on  Mount  Hamilton. 
Then  they  saw  a  dark-looking  thing  floating  along 
above  the  moon.  And  it  had  some  red  letters  on  its 
sides.  It  was  so  far  off  they  could  not  see  just  what 
it  was.  It  seemed  to  be  long  with  square  comers, 
with  shining  places  every  little  way,  or  maybe  holes 
through  it  that  showed  the  light.  It  was  shaped 
some  like  a  jew's-harp,  but  it  must  have  been  a  good 
deal  bigger,  because  they  could  see  its  shadow  on  the 
moon. 

By  and  by  it  stopped  on  the  white  side  of  the 
moon,  and  little  black  things  that  looked  no  bigger 
than  ants  crawled  out  of  it  and  walked  around,  and 
the  men  could  see  their  black  shadows  on  the  silver- 
white  moon.  And  one  of  the  smallest  ones  had  a  red 
cap  on.  And  one  of  the  others  had  a  basket,  but 
it  wasn't  half  full  of  peanuts,  so  that  they  don't^  know 
whether  it  is  the  same  candy -boy  or  not,  for  the  other 
candy-boy  had  his  basket  full.  So  it  may  be  that 
this  is  not  the  lost  Xenia  after  all.     Maybe  the  Xenia 


THE  LOST  XENIA. 


107 


broke  loose  from  tlie  train  when  it  jumped  and  went 
on  up  through  the  air  to  the  moon.  But  maybe 
she  didn't,  and  just  ran  off  the  track  and  got  off  on 
some  other  railroad,  and  was  mixed  up  with  the 
other  cars.  But  if  you  find  on  any  railroad  any- 
where a  car  named  Xenia,  you  will  know  that  it  is 
the  car  that  got  away.  Then  you  will  write  to  Mr. 
Pullman  at  Chicago,  Illinois,  and  tell  him  about  it. 
For  he  has  worried  a  good  deal  about  the  Xenia  and 
what  has  become  of  her,  and  he  has  been  sorry  to 
lose  the  candy-boy.  So  he  will  be  very  glad  to 
know  what  has  become  of  this  car,  and  he  will  tell 
the  candy-boy  to  give  you  all  the  peanuts  you  can  eat. 


y 


The  lost  car  and  the  moon. 


THE  WOODEN  HORSE. 

ONCE  the  Trojans  had  a  big  city  with  a  wall  all 
around  it,  and  they  called  it  Troy.  The  Greeks 
wanted  to  get  in  and  take  the  city,  but  tbey  could 
not  do  it.  So  they  stayed  outside  and  tried  every 
way  they  could  think  of,  but  they  couldn't  get  in. 
So  the  captain  of  the  Greeks  had  them  build  one 
night  a  great  big  wooden  horse,  and  when  they  had 
built  the  horse  he  got  inside  of  it  and  moved  its  head  up 
and  down  just  like  a  real  horse,  and  he  put  foui*  men 
into  its  legs  to  make  it  walk.  Then  old  Nestor,  who  was 
the  oldest  man  in  the  world  in  those  days,  got  inside 
the  horse,  and  his  long  whiskei's  reached  out  behind  for 
a  tail.  And  all  the  rest  of  the  Greeks  crawled  into 
the  inside  of  the  horse  and  shut  the  door.  So  they 
walked  the  horse  all  around  the  city,  and  then  tied  it 
to  a  tree.  In  the  morning,  the  Trojans  looked  out 
from  the  gates  of  Troy  and  saw  a  big  wooden  horse 
hitched  to  a  tree,  and  nobody  around.  So  they  went 
out  and  unhitched  the  horse  and  led  him  into  Troy, 
and  tied  him  to  a  tree  in  the  park,  and  gave  him  hay 

108 


THE  WOODEN  HORSE.  109 

to  eat,  and  were  very  mucli  delighted  to  get  such  a 
fine  beast  for  nothing.  And  when  it  came  night  and 
the  Trojans  had  all  gone  to  sleep,  the  captain  of  the 
Greeks  crawled  out  of  the  horse's  neck,  and  Nestor 


The  wooden  horse. 

crawled  out  of  the  horse's  tail,  and  all  the  rest  out 
of  its  body,  just  leaving  one  man  in  each  leg. 
Then  the  Greeks  went  all  through  Troy,  and  caught 
all  the  people  when  they  were  fast  asleep,  and  stowed 
them  away  inside  of  the  horse.    When  they  got  them 


110  THE  BOOK  OP  KNIGHT  AND  BARBARA. 

all  laid  away,  they  led  the  horse  out  through  the  city 
gate  and  turned  him  loose  outside  of  the  city  with  all 
the  Trojans  inside  of  him.  The  Trojans  woke  up  in 
the  morning  very  much  surprised,  because  they  hadn't 
expected  anything  of  this  kind.  They  did  not  know 
what  to  think  about  it,  and  they  believe  to  this  day 
that  the  horse  got  loose  in  the  night  and  ate  them  all 
up,  and  then  ran  out  through  the  city  gate,  and  that 
the  Greeks  came  in  through  the  city  gate  that  they 
had  left  open  when  the  horse  ran  away. 


rriHERE  once  was  a  couple  of  bears 

-^    Who  were  eating  baked  apples  on  shares. 

When  the  apples  were  gone 

They  ambled  along 
In  search  of  a  dish  of  baked  pears. 


THE    DANCING    SHADES. 


ONCE  there  was  a  pretty  little  girl,  her  name  was 
Eurydice,  and  she  had  gone  down  to  the  Under 
World  to  be  a  Shade.  Her  brother  Orpheus  felt  very 
badly  about  it,  and  by  and  by  he  found  out  where 
the  hole  was  that  led  down  to 
the  place  where  the  Shades 
stay.  So  he  brought  out  his 
fiddle  and  took  in  one  hand  a 
piece  of  bread  dipped  in  the 
magic  honey  they  call  hydromel, 
the  kind  that  the  witch-bees  of 
Miletus  make,  and  in  the  other 
hand  he  took  a  piece  of  money. 
Then  he  started  down  through 
the  hole  to  where  the  Shades 
are.  He  went  away  down 
through  the  long  dark  cave,  and 
then  on  to  the  place  where  the 
river  runs  through.     This  river  is  called  Styx,  and 

on  this  river  is  a  ferryboat,  and  they  call  the  ferry- 

111 


Eurydice. 


112  THE  BOOK  OF  KNIGHT  AND  BARBARA. 

man  Charon,  because  he  is  always  carrying  Shades 
across  the  River  Styx.  Orpheus  gave  Charon  his 
piece  of  money  and  Charon  ferried  him  across. 
When  he  got  across  he  found  on  the  other  shore  a 
big  three-headed  dog  that  stands  there,  and  this 
three-headed  dog  always  barks  at  everybody  that  goes 
across  the  river.  And  one  head  has  a  big  loud  bark, 
and  one  a  little  squeaky  bark,  and  the  other  bark  is 
just  regular  like  any  other  dog.  Once  they  used  to 
have  three  dogs  there,  but  they  ate  a  good  deal,  and 
there  wasn't  anything  for  the  three  bodies  to  do.  So 
Charon  broke  the  heads  off  and  put  them  all  on  one 
body,  and  made  a  three-headed  dog,  and  he  named  the 
dog  Cerberus.  So  Orj^heus  broke  off  three  pieces  of 
the  bread  dipped  in  hydromel  and  gave  one  piece  to 
each  of  the  three  heads  of  Cerberas.  Then  the  three 
heads  stopped  barking  and  let  him  go  by. 

He  went  on  farther  and  farther  until  he  came  to 
a  big  room  where  the  Shades  were.  The  Shades 
there  were  walking  about,  and  being  Shades  they 
walked  right  through  each  other,  because  Shades  can 
do  that,  for  they  haven't  any  bone  in  them  nor  any 
blood.  Some  of  the  Shades  were  sitting  one  above 
the  other  in  the  same  chair.  There  were  Shades  lying 
down  on  the  ground  and  some  lying  uj^on  the  roof, 


THE  DANCING  SHADES.  113 

because  they  can  lie  on  the  ceiling  just  as  well  as 
anywhere  else ;  and  some  were  lying  in  the  fire,  because 
fire  buras  right  up  through  them  and  doesn't  hurt 
them.     The  flame  of  the  fire  is  a  Shade  itself. 

Oi-pheus  looked  all  around  to  find  the  Shade  of 
his  little  sister  Eurydice.  By  and  by  he  found  her 
sitting  on  a  mossy  bank  by  the  side  of  a  pretty 
waterfall.  So  he  gave  her  a  piece  of  bread  dipped  in 
hydromel,  and  this  magic  honey  cured  her  of  being  a 
Shade.  So  all  at  once  she  began  to  have  flesh  and 
bones  and  blood  in  her.  Then  she  wasn't  a  Shade 
any  more,  and  then  she  walked  around  on  the  ground 
just  like  Orpheus.  And  then  Orpheus  took  out  his 
fiddle  and  he  played  a  funny  old  tune,  one  that  the 
Shades  all  like,  because  they  used  to  sing  it  when 
they  were  children. 

When  he  began  to  play  Oi*pheus  began  to  dance 
and  his  sister  clapped  her  hands  in  time,  and  then 
the  Shades  caught  up  the  tune  and  began  to  sing 
and  pat  and  jump  around.  When  they  began  to 
dance  and  keep  time  they  became  alive  again 
and  soon  had  flesh  and  blood  and  bones  in  them. 
Then  they  all  began  to  sing .  and  pat,  all  in  the  same 
tune.  And  when  they  were  all  stirred  up  Orpheus 
left  the  Shade  place  and  came  out  into  the  passage- 


114  THE  BOOK  OP  KNIGHT  AND  BARBARA. 

way,  and  all  the  Shades  followed.  Then  they  came 
to  the  three-headed  dog,  and  when  the  dog  heard  them 
all  the  heads  began  to  bai'k,  "  Wow,  wow,"  in  three 
different  keys,  one  high  and  loud,  one  little  and 
squeaky,  and  one  just  regular,  as  any  other  dog 
would  bark.  Then  they  all  came  down  to  the  river 
and  Charon  began  to  dance  and  pat,  and  blood  and 
bones  came  into  him,  the  boat  began  to  jump  about, 
keeping  time  just  the  same,  and  the  river  began  to 
rise  up  in  waves.  Then  they  went  along  beyond  the 
river.  Orpheus  was  first,  and  then  Eurydice.  Then 
came  the  three-headed  dog,  then  Charon  and  the  boat 
dancinoj  alono- :  then  after  them  followed  all  the  rest 
of  the  Shades,  and  the  river  bringing  up  the  rear,  all 
going  on  dancing  and  patting  to  the  old  tune  that  the 
Shades  love  so  much.  So  they  went  along,  and  kept 
on  dancing  and  singing  all  the  time  until  they  came 
out  through  the  cave  into  the  green  fields  of  Miletus. 
Then  all  the  animals  joined  the  line ;  the  cattle  began 
to  keep  time  with  their  tails  and  their  horns,  and 
the  horses  began  to  dance  and  the  dogs  began  to 
bark;  the  trees  kicked  their  feet  loose  and  followed, 
waving  their  long  limbs  all  in  time ;  the  tables  ran 
out  of  the  houses,  jumping  up  on  their  legs  and 
swinging  their  leaves,  and  everything  else  there  was 


THE  DANCING  SHADES. 


115 


came  along  too.  By  and  by  they  came  back  into  the 
town  where  the  Shades  all  used  to  live.  There  were 
no  people  left  there  then,  because  they  had  all  gone 
dowTi  to  be  Shades,  but  ever  since  there  has  been 
plenty  of  folks.  The  old  town  is  full  of  people  now, 
and  whenever  they  get  a  chance  they  all  dance  along 
the  road  and  pat  and  sing  the  old  song  of  the  Shades. 
And  those  who  have  fiddles  play  them  with  all  their 
might. 


THE  HEAD   AND   THE   SXAKES. 

/^^  NCE  there  was  a  lady  and  she  liv^ed  in  a  house 
^-^  all  alone  by  hei-self,  because  her  neighbors  did 
not  like  her  and  she  could  not  keep  any  servants. 
The  trouble  with  her  was  that  instead  of  hair  she 
wore  snakes,  and  her  eyes  turned  everybody  they 
looked  on  into  stone,  and  whenever  a  tramp  came 
along  and  knocked  on  the  door  and  called  for  the 
lady  of  the  house,  she  had  only  to  look  on  him  a 
moment  and  he  turned  into  stone.  She  had  in  her 
back  yard  a  whole  pile  of  people  leaned  up  against 
the  fence,  and  every  one  of  them  had  been  turned 
into  stone,  because  whenever  she  looked  at  anybody 
it  turned  him  into  stone. 

The  neighbors  got  ver}^  tired  of  her,  and  so  they 

116 


THE  HEAD  AND  THE  SNAKES. 


117 


told  Perseus  about  it,  and  Perseus  went  off  and  bor- 
rowed a  pair  of  wings  that  belonged  to  Quicksilv^er,* 
and  lie  fastened  them  on  his  feet.  Then  he  went 
around  to  Venus  and  borrowed  a  nice  new  looking- 
glass  she  had,  and    he  took    that  in  his  left   hand. 


Medusa  was  taking  a  nap. 


Then  he  went  out  and  got  his  big  broadsword  and 
took  that  in  his  right  hand.  Then  he  flew  away 
with  the  wings  to  the  house  where  Medusa  lived, 
but  he  did  not  dare  look  at  Medusa  for  fear  she 


*'•  Quicksilver  is  the  same  as  Mercury  and  sounds  better"  {Knight). 
Hawthorne  has  made  a  similar  observation. 


118  THE  BOOK  OP  KNIGHT  AND  BARBARA. 

would  turn  him  into  stone,  and  lie  felt  how  ridicu- 
lous he  would  look  turned  into  stone,  with  wings 
on  his  feet  and  a  looking-glass  in  his  hand !  So  he 
walked  on  his  toes  backward  up  to  the  house  and 
knocked  with  his  hind  foot  on  the  door.  Nobody 
came  to  the  door,  so  he  turned  the  knob  and  went  in 
backward.  Now  it  happened  that  ^ledusa  was  tak- 
ing a  nap  on  the  lounge,  and  there  \v  isn't  a  single 
serpent,  by  good  chance,  tliat  was  aA.ake.  So  Per- 
seus backed  up  to  th:  'uunge,  holding  the  mirror  be- 
fore him,  so  that  he  could  see  where  he  was  going, 
uptil  he  was  opposite  her;  then  looking  into  the 
ffirror  h*--.  ^wu.ng  his  sword  over  backward  and  cut 
M  i  right  off,  and  then  he  grabbed  it  in 

oy  the  frizzes  of  snakes  and  went  right  out 

agh  the  door  without  saying  good-by  or  any- 
ching,  and  flew  away  with  the  head  in  his  hand. 

Then  he  did  not  know  what  to  do  with  the  head, 
and  the  blood  dripped  out  of  it  and  fell  into  the  sand, 
and  every  drop  that  fell  made  a  new  snake,  and  the 
track  over  the  desert  of  Libya  where  he  went  has 
been  filled  with  snakes  ever  since,  made  out  of  that 
blood.  Finally  he  carried  the  head  around  to  where 
he  saw  a  great  big  whale  swimming  after  a  girl  that 
somebody  had  tied  to  a  rock  out  by  the  sea,  and  the 


THE  HEAD  AND  THE  SNAKES. 


119 


girl  was  crying  and  calling  for  her  mother.     So  he 
just  turned  the  face  of  Medusa  on  the  whale  and 


Perseus  flies  away  with  Medusa's  head. 

changed  the  whale  into  stone,  and  the  whale  lies  there 
and  has  been  stone  ever  since.  But  the  girl  he 
untied,  and  he  showed  her  the  way  to  go  home.  Still 
Perseus  did  not  know  how  to  get  rid  of  the  head. 
He  never  dared  to  look  at  it  at  all  for  fear  it  would 
turn  him  into  stone.  Finally  as  he  flew  about  on  the 
wings  of  Quicksilver,  he  saw  old  Jove  taking  a  morn- 
ing stroll  through  the  skies,  and  he  told  Jove  that  he 


120  THE  BOOK  OF  KNIGHT  AND  BARBARA. 

might  have  the  head  if  he  wanted  it  for  his  museum. 
And  Jove  was  much  pleased,  for  he  liked  all  sorts  of 
odd  things,  and  he  took  it  from  Perseus  and  hung  it 
up  on  one  of  the  stars,  and  there  it  hangs  yet,  and  if 
you  go  out  any  night  and  look  up  into  the  sky  you 
will  see  that  head  way  off  in  among  the  stars. 
There  are  three  stars  of  them  making  a  triangle 
away  on  the  other  side  of  the  North  Pole  from  the 


The  girl  tied  to  a  rock,  cryiug  for  her  mother. 

Big  Dipper,  and  the  star  the  head  is  fastened  to  is  the 
one  in  the  angle  at  the  middle.     And  when  the  head 


THE  HEAD  AND  THE  SNAKES. 


121 


was  hung  up  its  face  was  turned  toward  the  earth 
and  it  changed  the  earth  into  stone,  and  that  is  why 


^^^ 

/^ 

~~^I/<^ 

Jove  hangs  Medusa's  head  on  a  star. 

there  is  so  much  rock  and  stone  on  the  earth  now. 
And  some  say  that  the  moon  was  changed  to  stone 
too.  But  I  don't  know  about  that ;  the  moon  looks 
too  white  to  be  stone.  Anyhow,  up  in  the  sky  the  old 
head  of  Medusa  is  hanging  yet,  and  if  you  go  out  at 
night  you  want  to  look  at  it  over  your  right  shoulder. 


HOW  THE  SPHINX  TOLD   RIDDLES. 

/^NCE  there  was  a  city  and  the  people  who  lived 
^^  there  called  it  Thebes,  because  that  was  its 
name.     One  morning  when  the  people  got  up  they 


The  city  gate  and  the  Sphinx. 


went  out  to  the  gate  of  the  city ;  and  they  saw  sitting 
by  the  gate  a  great  big  Sphinx  that  did  not  belong 


122 


HOW  THE  SPHINX  TOLD  RIDDLES.  123 

to  them,  and  they  did  not  know  whose  Sphinx  it 
was. 

The  Sphinx  said,  "  It  is  all  right.  I  will  just  sit 
here  by  the  gate,  and  whenever  any  one  comes  into 
your  city  I  will  ask  him  a  riddle.  If  he  can  guess 
that  riddle,  it  is  his  good  luck,  he  can  go  into  the 
city.  But  if  he  doesn't  guess  it,  I  will  eat  him. 
In  that  way  I  will  get  enough  to  eat,  and  it  will  be 
perfectly  just  to  every  one,  because  if  they  don't 
guess  the  riddle  it  is  only  fair  that  I  should  eat 
them,  and  if  they  do  guess  it  they  can  go  into  the 
city,  and  that  will  be  all  right  too." 

So  when  the  gate  was  opened  the  Sphinx  said 
to  the  first  one  that  came :  "  Now  answer  me  this 
riddle  before  you  go  any  farther.  What  is  it  that 
walks  on  four  legs  in  the  morning,  on  two  legs  at 
noon,  and  on  three  legs  at  night  ? "  The  man  could 
not  think  what  it  was,  so  he  guessed  a  grasshopper, 
and  the  Sphinx  said,  "  No,  that  is  wrong."  So  she  ate 
him.  And  of  the  next  man  that  came  along  the 
Sphinx  asked  the  same  riddle,  and  hp  guessed  it  was 
a  AvheelbaiTow,  and  the  Sphinx  said  that  was  WTong. 
So  she  ate  him.  And  then  another  man,  and  another 
man,  and  another  man  all  came  along,  and  they  all 
guessed  wTong,  and  the  Sphinx  ate  them.     And  she 


124  THE  BOOK  OF  KNIGHT  AND  BARBARA. 

had  SO  mucli  to  eat  that  she  was  getting  quite  fat — 
for  a  Sphinx. 

But  one  day  there    came  along  a  man  who  was 
lame,  and  who  had  hard  work  to  get  along  over  the 


The  Sphinx  ate  one  man  and  then  another. 

stones.  .His  name  was  CEdipus,  and  everybody 
called  him  Ed.  And  the  Sphinx  said  to  Ed :  "  An- 
swer me  this  riddle  before  you  go  any  farther.  Tell 
me  what  it  is  that  walks  on  four  legs  in  the  morning, 
on  two  legs  at  noon,  and  on  three  legs  at  night." 
And  QEdipus  said :  "  Why,  anybody  could  guess  that. 


HOW  THE  SPHINX  TOLD   RIDDLES. 


125 


It's  almost  night  now ;  I  am  walking  on  three  legs — 
two  legs  and  my  cane ;  and  when  I  was  a  baby  it  was 
like  morning  to  me,  then  I  went  on  four  legs ;  and 
when  I  was  a  man  before  I  was  lame,  it  was  like 
being  noon,  and  then  I  walked  on  two  legs ;  now  it 
is  night,  I  am  lame  and  walk  on  three  legs.  So  I  am 
the  answer  to  your  riddle."     And  the  Sphinx  said 


thoughtfully :  "  I  guess  that's  right ;  that's  just  about 
the  way  I  thought  it  out."  And  then  (Edipus  said : 
"  Now  it's  my  turn  to  ask  you  a  riddle.     What  have 


126  THE  BOOK  OF   KNIGHT  AND  BARBARA. 

you  got  inside  your  head?"  Then  the  Sphinx  said, 
"  Why,  brains,  I  suppose.  I  will  guess  brains."  But 
(Edipus  said,  ^'No,  that  is  wrong,  you  haven't  any 
brains  at  all;  you  have  nothing  in  your  head  but 
bread  and  milk."     And  the  Sphinx  saw  there  was 


Perseus  turned  Medusa's  head  on  the  Sphinx. 

only  one  way  to  find  out  which  was  right,  and  that 
was  to  look  and  see.  So  (Edipus  took  his  big  cane 
that  had  an  axe  on  the  upper  end — for  the  people 
used  to  wear  axes  on  their  canes  in  those  days, 
so  that  if  they  had  to  go  to  war  they  would  be  all 


HOW  THE  SPHINX  TOLD   RIDDLES.  127 

ready.  Then  lie  took  his  axe-cane  and  split  open  the 
Sphinx's  head.  They  found  that  there  were  brains 
in  there,  just  as  the  Sphinx  had  said;  so  CEdipus  was 
wrong,  and  the  Sphinx  was  quite  right.  But  when 
they  came  to  put  the  Sphinx  together  again  they 
could  not  make  her  alive  any  way  they  tried,  but 
they  did  not  try  very  hard.  Anyhow,  she  could  not 
ask  any  more  riddles  nor  eat  any  more  folks.  So 
when  Perseus  came  along  next  day  with  the  head  of 
Medusa  and  saw  the  split  Sphinx  lying  there,  he  just 
turned  Medusa's  face  on  her,  and  she  was  changed 
into  stone.  And,  all  turned  into  stone,  she  lies  there 
vet  with  a  "split  head,  just  outside  the  gates  of  the 
City  of  Thebes. 

And  the  people  were  very  thankful  to  CEdipus 
because  he  had  got  rid  of  the  Sphinx  for  them ;  and 
so  when  he  died  they  put  witch-stuff  all  over  him 
and  wrapped  him  up  in  cloth  and  cloth  and  cloth, 
and  made  a  mummy  of  him,  and  you  can  see  him  any 
day  if  you  wiU  go  down  to  the  museum. 


HOW  THE   BIRD   PHCEXIX   BUILT   ITS  XEST. 

/^NCE  there  was  a  great  bird  with  bright  red 
^^  feathers,  just  like  a  geranium  or  a  flame  of 
fire,  and  they  called  her  Phcenix,  because  they 
couldn't  think  of  any  other  name  for  such  a  queer- 
looking  bird. 

And  one  day  the  bird  Phoenix  flew  right  into  the 
house,  and  made  her  nest  in  the  gi*ate,  and  laid  a  big 
round  egg,  all  red,  with  little  blue  speckles  over  it. 
And  the  Japanese  boy,  Otaki,  built  a  fire  in  the 
grate,  and  the  fire  burned  the  bird  all  up,  and  there 
wasn't  anything  left  but  the  big  egg,  and  that  was  red- 
hot,  besides  being  red  to  begin  with.  And  all  at 
once  the  big  egg  went  pop,  and  out  flew  the  old  bird 
Phoenix,  just  as  she  was  before,  with  her  red  feathei*s 
and  her  old  bill  bent  down  in  the  middle,  and  her 
long  blue  spindling  legs.  And  the  children  were 
playing  camp  out  in  the  garden,  where  there  was  lots 
of  yellow  grass.  And  they  gathered  some  of  the 
grass  to  play  the}^  had  a  camp  fire.  And  the  old 
bird  Phoenix  made  a  nest  right  in  the  grass,  and  laid 

128 


HOW  THE   BIRD  PHCENIX   BUILT   ITS  NEST.  129 

a  big  red  egg  in  it,  all  covered  over  with  blue  speckles. 
So  the  children  lighted  the  camp  fire  wdth  some 
matches  they  had,  and  burned  the  bird  Phoenix  all  up, 
all  but  the  red-hot  egg.  And  the  children  felt  very 
bad  about  it,  because  they  thought  that  it  was  one  of 
the  big  herons  that  fly  over  from  the  bay  to  catch 
gophers,  but  it  w^asn't,  for  the  red  egg  went  pop  !  and 
out  flew  the  old  bird  Phoenix  and  lit  on  the  eaves  of 
the  barn,  just  above  the  monkey's  perch.  Then  John, 
the  Swedish  man,  had  been  pruning  the  grape  vines 
and  had  a  great  pile  of  limbs  out  on  the  ground  by 
the  pile  of  rocks.  And  the  old  bird  Phoenix  made 
her  nest  in  it,  and  laid  her  egg  just  as  she  always  did. 
Aud  when  John  came  to  burn  the  brush,  he  burned 
her  up  too,  and  the  egg  went  pop,  and  out  she  flew 
and  lit  on  the  very  top  of  a  live  oak  tree,  and  the 
wind  was  blowing  so  that  she  had  to  keep  moving 
about  with  her  long  legs  to  keep  from  falling  off. 
And  the  very  next  place  she  saw  where  there  was 
going  to  be  a  Are  she  laid  her  egg.  And  one  day 
Otaki  saw  her  trying  to  scratch  a  match  on  the 
rough  feathei's  on  her  knee,  so  as  to  make  a  fire  to 
burn  herself  up.  He  didn't  want  any  such  bird  as 
that  around,  so  he  drove  her  off.  She  flew  around 
the  world  and  away  back  up  into  history,  for  she 


130  THE   BOOK  OP  KNIGHT  AND  BARBARA. 

could  fly  backward  as  well  as  forward  with  those 
long  red  wings  of  hers,  and  the  long  blue  legs  sticking 
out  behind  like  a  rudder. 

She  came  to  the  palace  where  the  Emperor  lived, 
and  he  was  a  great  fat  Emperor  and  did  nothing  but 
eat.  His  real  name  was  Heliogabalus,  but  the  people 
called  him  Pig,  because  that  was  shorter  and  sounded 
more  like  him.  And  the  Emperor  Pig  saw  the  bird 
Phoenix  trying  to  build  a  nest  in  his  cooking  stove. 
And  when  he  saw  the  egg  he  told  his  servants  to 
wring  the  bird's  neck,  and  make  an  omelet  out  of  the 
egg,  and  to  give  him  both  the  egg^  and  the  bird  for 
his  breakfast.  So  the  Emperor  Pig  ate  the  old  bird 
Phoenix  and  ate  her  egg  too,  and  when  the  egg  went 
pop,  the  people  rushed  in  and  saw  that  something  had 
happened.  There  wasn't  any  Emperor  left  that  they 
could  find,  and  out  of  the  chimney  of  the  palace  they 
saw  a  great  red  streak  flying  away,  with  long  blue 
spindling  legs  following  on  behind.  And  she  must 
be  flying  yet,  for  no  one  since  that  time  has  heard 
]ier  eggs  go  pop !  But  if  you  should  happen  to  see  a 
big  red  egg  lying  in  a  brush-heap  anywhere,  build  a 
fire  under  it,  and  maybe  you  will  find  the  old  bird 
Phoenix. 


DIOGENES  AXD  THE  NAUGHTY  BOYS. 

{With  acknowledgments  to   Fliegende  Blatter.) 

ONCE  in  the  olden  time  there  was  a  big  city  called 
Corinth,  and  at  the  upper  end  of  the  street 
there  was  a  high  hill,  and  on  the  hill  there  lived  an 
old  man  named  Diogenes.  He  didn't  live  in  a  regu- 
lar house,  but  just  in  a  big  tub,  a  sort  of  a  barrel, 
and  he  had  a  lot  of  straw  inside  where  he  used  to 
sleep,  and  he  had  a  lantern  too,  and  he  used  to 
walk  around  at  night  in  the  streets  looking  for  an 
honest  man.  But  he  never  found  any,  because  he 
was  just  pretending,  and  he  looked  the  other  way 
when  he  saw"  an  honest  man  coming.  The  bad  boys 
of  Corinth  followed  him  home  one  night,  and  he  lay 
down  in  his  tub  and  went  to  sleep,  and  w^hen  he  was 
fast  asleep  the  bad  boys  took  the  barrel  and  rolled 
it  down  the  hill.  Diogenes  went  rumble-de-bump ! 
rumble-de-bump !  till  the  barrel  came  clear  down 
to  the  bottom  of  the  hill.  Then  he  got  out,  and  he 
was  pretty  mad,  but  the  bad  boys  were  all  gone 
and    there  wasn't  any  light  in  his  lantern,  and  the 

131 


132 


THE  BOOK  OF   KNIGHT  AND   BARBARA. 


matches  were  all  scattered  in  the  straw.     So  he  rolled 
his  barrel  back  to  the  top  of  the  hill. 

The  next  night  he  went  to  sleep  again,  and  the 


The  tub  in  which  Diogenes  lived. 

1.  It  is  on  the  hill.  3.  Diogenes  drove  some  nails  in  the  tub. 

2.  The  hdd  boys  pushed  it  down  the  hill.     4.  The  boys  were  pressed  into  pancakes. 

bad  boys  came  and  rolled  him  down  the  hill  again, 
and      he     went     r-r-r-le-bump !     le-bump !     till     he 


HOW  WE   CAPTURED  TROY.  135 

But  never  a  squeak 
Did  they  hear  from  a  Greek, 
"  All  apkone  now,"  says  Nestor,  says  he. 

Then  the  Trojans  all  chortled  for  joy 
As  they  led  the  great  horse  into  Troy, 

But  the  Greeks  hid  within 

Lay  all  silent  as  sin, 
For  we  would  not  surprise  or  annoy. 

To  a  big  poplar  tree  in  the  park 
They  tied  the  great  horse  just  at  dark ; 

They  called  him  Old  Charley, 

And  gave  him  some  barley, 
That  he  might  not  be  biting  the  bark. 

Then  they  locked  up  the  great  city  gate. 
And  before  the  town  clock  had  struck  eight, 

They  were  all  safe  in  bed. 

For  every  one  said, 
"  'Tis  time  to  re-cu-perate." 

When  Sleep  spread  her  wings  over  Troy 
And  Hypnos  her  arts  did  employ. 

Then  from  out  the  gi*eat  horse. 

We  Greeks  crawled,  of  course, 
And  we  reddened  the  town  in  our  joy. 

10 


136  THE  BOOK   OF   KNIGHT  AND  BARBARA. 

While  the  Trojans  still  peacefully  slept, 
In  their  chambers  we  stealthily  crept, 

And  each  Trojan,  of  course. 

We  removed  to  the  horse. 
Then  the  bolt  through  its  fastening  slipped. 

When  the  Trojans  were  all  stowed  inside, 

Said  Achilles,  "  Now  give  them  a  lide  ! " 

Through  the  great  city  gate 

The  horee  started  straight. 
And  we  left  him  alone  in  his  pride. 

Then  Achilles,  he  led  us  on  foot, 

To  the  sign  of  the  "  Horns  of  the  Goat," 

Then  to  Bacchus  did  homage, 

With  incident  damage 
To  the  skins  at  the  Inn  of  the  Goat ! 

Thus  the  long  night  wore  wearily  on 
Till  it  came  to  its  end  with  the  dawn. 

When  eager-lipped  Eos 

Kissed  snow-mantled  Chios 
And  awakened  Aurora  the  Dawn. 

Then  the  Trojans  got  up,  rubbed  their  eyes. 
And  each  said,  "  Well,  this  is  a  surprise. 


HOW   WE   CAPTURED   TROY.  137 

I  was  safe  in  my  bed, 
But  now  I've  been  fed 
To  this  monster  in  equine  disguise." 

And  the  Trojans  believe,  to  this  day, 
That  the  beast  which  thus  bore  them  away 

Had  got  loose  in  the  night, 

For  it  was  not  tied  tight. 
And  had  swallowed  them  all  in  his  play ! 


THE  EAGLE  AND  THE  BLUE-TAILED  SK^K. 


The  Eagle  swoops  down  on  the  Skink. 


rriHERE  was  once  a 
^  Blue-tailed  Skink, 
and  he  sat  on  a  log  in 
the  sun  and  had  a  good 
time,  and  on  top  of  the 
tree  over  his  head  there 
was  a  big  bald  Eagle. 
The  Eagle  watched  the 
Blue-tailed  Skink  sitting 
on  the  log  in  the  sun 
until  she  thought  it  was 
time  to  eat  him.  Then 
she  swooped  down  on 
him.  When  the  Blue- 
tailed  Skink  saw  the 
Eagle  coming  he  gave 
a  jump  forward,  so  that 
when  the  Eagle  got  down 
there  she  just  caught  the 


THE  EAGLE  AND   THE  BLUE-TAILED  SKINK. 


139 


end  of  his  tail.     The  tail  of  the  Blue-tailed  Skink 

will  come  off  if  you  catch  hold  of  it.     It  is  made  and 

put    on    that   way.      So 

the    Blue -tailed    Skink 

left  the  Eagle  with  the 

tail   in   her  claws.     He 

was    all    right    himself, 

and    he   ran    down   the 

side  of  the  log  while  the 

Eagle  ate  up  the  tail. 

Then  the  Blue-tailed 
Skink  looked  up  the 
tree  and  saw  where  high 
in  the  crotch  of  the  tree 
the  Eagle  had  a  nest. 
In  the  nest  were  four 
eggs.  So  the  Blue-tailed 
Skink  ran  up  the  side 
of  the  tree  to  the  nest. 
Then  he  looked  do^vn 
and  saw  the  Eagle  on 
the  log  eating  up  his 
tail.  So  he  ate  up  the  four  eggs  that  the  Eagle  had 
laid  in  her  nest,  and  he  said,  "  There  is  just  enough 
meat  in  these  eo-o-s  to  make  me  a  ne^v  taih" 


The  Skink  goes  up  the  tree  for 
the  eggs. 


140  THE   BOOK  OP   KNIGHT   AND   BARBARA. 

The  Eagle  saw  the  Blue-tailed  Skink  sitting  in 
the  nest  on  the  tree,  so  she  flew  up  to  seize  him.  But 
the  Blue-tailed  Skink  ran  down  on  the  other  side. 
When  the  Eagle  got  back  to  her  nest  she  saw  that 
the  eggs  were  gone,  and  she  said,  "I've  eaten  the 
Skink's  tail,  and  there  is  just  enough  meat  in  that 
tail  to  make  me  four  new  eggs." 

The  Skink  lay  down  in  the  shade  under  the  log 
until  he  had  grown  another  blue  tail,  and  when  he 
had  done  this  then  he  ran  back  up  on  the  log  and  sat 
in  the  sun.  The  Eagle  laid  four  more  eggs  in  the 
nest  and  watched  the  Blue-tailed  Skink.  Very 
soon  the  Eagle  jumped  down  to  catch  liim.  She  got 
the  Skink  by  the  end  of  the  tail  and  the  tail  came  off. 
Then  the  Blue-tailed  Skink  ran  away  and  saw  the 
Eagle  munching  his  tail,  and  the  tail  squirmed  while 
the  Eagle  munched  it.  Then  the  Skink  ran  up  the 
tree  to  the  Eagle's  nest  and  saw  four  eggs  there.  So 
he  ate  the  eggs ;  and  the  Eagle  had  the  tail  and  the 
Blue-tailed  Skink  had  the  eggs,  and  they  were  ready 
to  start  over  again.  For  there  was  meat  enough  in 
the  tail  to  make  four  more  eggs,  and  meat  enough  in 
the  eerffs  to  make  another  blue  tail.* 


*  "  The  blue-tailed  Skink  never  lost  his  tail  forever." — Babbaka. 


THE   SEA  HORSE  AND   THE  LITTLE  SEA  PONIES. 

HE  was  a  little  bit  of  a  sea  horse,  and  his  name 
was  Hippocampus.  He  was  not  more  than 
an  inch  long,  and  he  had  a  red  stripe  on  the  fin 
on  his  back,  and  his  head  was  made  of  bone,  and 
it  had  a  shape  just  like  a  horse's  head,  but  he  ran 


The  sea  horse  hangs  by  his  tail  from  seaweed. 

out  to  a  point  at  his  tail,  and  his  head  and  his 
tail  were  all  covered  with  bone.  He  lived  in  the 
Grand  Lagoon  at  Pensacola  in  Florida,  where  the 
water  is  shallow  and  warm  and  there  are  lots  of  sea- 
weeds.    So  he  wound  his  tail  around  a  stem  of  sea- 

141 


142 


THE  BOOK  OF  KNIGHT  AND  BARBARA. 


wrack  and  hung  with  his  head  down,  waiting  to  see 
what  would  happen  next,  and  then  he  saw  another 
little  sea  horse  hanging  on  another  seaweed.  And 
the  other  sea  horse  put  out  a  lot  of  little  eggs,  and 
the  little  eggs  all  lay  on  the  bottom  of  the  sea  at 
the  foot  of  the  seaweed.  So  Hippocampus  crawled 
down  from  the  seaweed  where  he  was  and  gathered 
up  all  those  little  eggs,  and  down  on  the  under  side 
of  his  tail  where  the  skin  is  soft  he  made  a  long  slit 
for  a  pocket,  then  he  stuffed  all  the  eggs  into  this 


Each  egg  hatched  out  a  little  sea  pony. 


pocket  and  fastened  it  together  and  stuck  it  with 
some  slime.  So  he  had  all  the  other  sea  horse's  eggs 
in  his  own  pocket. 

Then  he  went  up  on  the  seawrack  again  and 
twisted  his  tail  around  it  and  hung  there  with  his 
head  down  to  see  what  would  happen  next.  The 
sun  shone  down  on  him,  and  by  and  by  all  the  little 


THE  SEA  HORSE  AND  THE  LITTLE  SEA  PONIES.     143 

eggs  began  to  liatcli  out,  and  each  one  of  the  little 
eggs  was  a  little  sea  pony,  shaped  just  like  a  sea 
horse.  And  when  he  hung  there  with  his  head 
down  he  could  feel  all  the  little  sea  ponies  squirming 
inside  his  pocket,  and  by  and  by  they  squirmed  so 
much  that  they  pushed  the  pocket  open,  and  then 
every  one  crawled  out  and  got  away  from  him,  and 
he  couldn't  get  them  back,  and  so  he  went  along 
with  them  and  watched  them  to  see  that  nothing 
should  hurt  them.  And  by  and  by  they  hung  them- 
selves all  up  on  the  seaweeds,  and  they  are  hanging 
there  yet.  And  so  he  crawled  back  to  his  own  piece 
of  seawrack  and  twisted  his  tail  around  it  and  waited 
to  see  what  would  happen  next.  And  what  hap- 
pened next  was  just  the  same  thing  over  again. 


THE   STORY   OF   THE   GRIFFIX. 


A  gigantic  Baobab  tree. 
144 


N   one    of  the 
far-off  v^alleys 
of    Crim    Tar- 
tary,  near  the  north 
side    of    the    Chinese 
wall,  stands   a   gigantic 
Baobab  tree,  and  there  is 
no  other  like  it  on  the  earth. 
Its  huge  gnarled  trunk  has 
withstood  the  winds  of  cen- 
turies, and   its   long   sword- 
shaped  evergreen  leaves  have 
shaken    off    the    raindrops    of 
ten  thousand  stomis.     Its  seed 
was     planted     by     Klanster 
Khan     when     he     returned 
from    the   plunder   of    the 
palace   of    the 
great  Bam-Boo, 


THE  STORY  OF  THE  GRIFFIN.  145 

and  rested  with  his  army  in  the  valley  of  Quong-Sin- 
Lee.  And  now  the  tree  has  grown  great,  and  it  lives 
long  after  the  palace  and  the  army  have  been  alike 
forsrotten. 

o 

Once,  and  once  only,  in  a  century  the  Baobab  tree 
is  covered  with  blossoms  which  draw  the  birds  and  the 
bees  from  a  hundred  provinces.  The  dark  green  of 
its  foliage  is  relieved  by  large  bell-shaped  flowers  with 
sno^vy  white  petals,  a  little  yellowish  in  the  center  and 
da23pled  with  a  rich  purple,  as  if  each  flower  had  been 
S23lashed  with  blood.  A  strange  heavy  odor  exhales 
from  the  flowers, — an  odor  as  of  bumblebees  among 
clover  blooms, — and  in  the  warm  sunshine  the  odor 
grows  stronger,  like  the  smell  of  the  incense  which  is 
burned  in  the  temple  of  Joss.  When  the  tree  is  in 
full  bloom  the  whole  valley  is  filled  with  fragrance. 
But  this  lasts  only  for  a  day.  The  warm  winds  blow 
up  from  the  desert,  the  white  petals  wither,  and  the 
tree  is  once  more  a  mass  of  dark  glistening  green. 
But  the  little  fruits  are  left  hidden  among  the  leaves, 
and  in  the  month  of  the  tea  harvest  they  become  ripe. 
Each  fruit  is  then  a  great,  pitcher-shaped  pod,  long 
and  narrow  in  the  neck,  short  and  rounded  in  the 
bowl,  and  its  skin  is  hard  like  the  rind  of  a  gourd. 
When  the  fruits  are  ripe  they  fall  to  the  ground,  and 


146  THE  BOOK  OF  KNIGHT  AND  BARBARA. 

the  shock  splits  the  shell  into  five  long  strips.  Each 
one  of  these  curls  itself  up  convulsively,  casting  the 
pulp  of  the  fruit  far  out  on  the  ground.  This  2:)ulp  soon 
assumes  a  singular  form.  It  is  more  like  an  animal 
than  a  plant.  It  has  the  power  of  motion,  and  its  move- 
ments are  as  vigorous  as  those  of  a  brownie.  Should 
you  see  one,  you  would  know  it  at  once  to  be  that 
curious  creature  called  in  books  of  science  the  Griffin. 
And  singular  though  the  Griffin  is,  the  mode  of  its 
origin  is  still  more  curious.  Some  think  it  the  natu- 
ral product  of  the  ripened  fruit  of  the  Baobab  tree. 
This  view  was  held  by  all  the  older  botanists,  like 
Kafinesque  and  Lagerstrom  and  the  University  of 
Abo.  But  many  of  the  modern  investigators,  like 
Stiefelknecht,  Pretzelfresser,  and  Abner,  Dean  of 
Angels,  take  a  very  different  view.  According  to 
them,  the  Griffin  is  not  a  fruit  of  the  Baobab  tree  at 
all.  It  is  produced  by  the  development  of  the  egg 
of  the  Gryphos  or  Baobab  vulture,  which  is  found 
only  in  the  valleys  of  Grim  Tartary.  This  huge  bird 
comes  buzzing  about  the  tree  at  its  flowering  time  in 
early  June,  ostensibly  in  pursuit  of  bees,  but  in  reality 
seeking  a  chance  to  plant  its  eggs  in  the  flower,  to 
leave  its  offspring,  as  it  were,  a  foundling  on  the 
steps  of  this  wonderful  tree. 


THE  STORY   OF   THE  GRIFFIN.  147 

Be  this  as  it  may,  the  fact  is  well  known  that 
when  the  Baobab  tree  ripens  its  fruits,  the  ground  is 
strewn  mth  small  Griffins  which  have  escaped  from 
its  gourd-shaped  pods.  These  baby  Griffins,  or  Grif- 
flets,  are  very  active  and  restless,  and  they  have  a 
way  of  rushing  together  in  twos  or  threes,  so  that  a 
single  one  is  seldom  seen.  Then  by  a  remarkable 
process,  just  the  opposite  of  that  which  naturalists 
call  fission,  these  little  clusters  of  two  or  three  run 
into  one,  as  raindrops  run  together  when  coursing 
down  a  window-pane.  So  from  two  or  three  small 
Grifflets  is  formed  one  larger  one,  and  the  process 
goes  on  up  to  the  third  day,  when  only  a  single  Grif- 
fin is  left  as  the  sum  of  all  the  others.  On  the  day 
our  story  begins,  such  a  Griffin  stood  alone  in  the 
world  beneath  the  Baobab  tree.  And  so  his  life 
began. 

II. 

I  can  not  tell  in  these  few  pages  one  half  the  story 
of  the  Griffin's  wanderings.  Time  was  nothing  to 
him  and  space  was  little,  and  with  every  day  he  saw 
new  scenes  and  met  with  fresh  adventures.  He  had 
roamed  far  and  wide  over  the  earth,  far  away  from 
Crim  Tartary  and  the  scenes  of  his  youth.  He  had 
come  among  people  who  had  never  heard  of  Quong- 


148  THE  BOOK  OF   KNIGHT  AND   BARBARA. 

Sin-Lee,  and  to  whom  the  Chinese  wall  and  the 
great  Baobab  tree  were  less  real  than  the  lamp  of 
Aladdin  or  the  bean-stalk  of  Jack  the  slayer  of 
giants. 

The  Griffin  found  himself  one  summer  evening  on 
the  grass-grown  sidewalk  of  a  little  country  village. 
By  his  side  was  the  Postage  Stamp,  and  in  a  lively 
way  she  was  telling  him  her  adventures  and  those  of 
her  hundred  sistei-s  from  whom  she  had  never  been 
separated.  But  as  the  sun  was  setting  a  great  storm 
arose  and  the  red  glare  of  the  lightning  was  fearful. 
The  Postage  Stamp  drew  close  to  the  Griffin  for  pro- 
tection, and  when  the  rain  began  to  fall  she  clung 
more  closely  still.  Soon  they  reached  the  awning  of 
the  comer  grocery,  where,  upon  the  postmaster's  in- 
vitation, they  sought  shelter  mthin.  Seated  on  the 
bench  by  the  stove,  the  Postage  Stamp  struggled  to 
free  herself,  but  in  vain.  And  the  stupid  postmaster, 
simply  noticing  that  the  Griffin  bore  a  stamp,  and 
without  waiting  for  any  explanation,  threw  them 
together  into  the  mail  pouch.  The  pouch  was  "flung 
into  the  mail  wagon  and  carried  to  the  station, 
where,  amid  the  noise  and  tumult  of  the  incoming 
train,  the  Griffin's  struggles  for  release  were  un- 
noticed.    So  vnih  the  little  Postage  Stamp  fast  to 


THE  STORY  OF  THE  GRIFFIN.  I49 

his  side,  he  was  unwillingly  whirled  away  upon  his 
travels.  ^ 

The  situation  was  embarrassing  to  both  these  vic- 
tims of  official  zeal.  Tiy  as  they  might,  they  could 
not  separate  themselves  without  fatal  injury  to  the 
Postage  Stamp ;  and  as  the  Griffin  was  too  well  bred 
to  allow  any  harm  to  come  to  a  lady  in  his  care,  he 
seemed  not  to  notice  her  confusion,  and  tried  to  cheer 
her  up  by  saying  that  he  was  glad  in  his  travels  to 
be  assured  of  such  good  company. 

By  and  by  the  mail  bag  was  opened,  and  its  con- 
tents— letters,  papers,  photographs.  Griffin  and  all — 
were  spread  out  on  a  lai'ge  table  in  the  moving  car. 
All  the  letters  bore  plain  directions,  and  the  postal 
clerk  had  no  difficulty  in  sending  each  to  its  proper 
destination.  But  when  he  came  to  the  Griffin, 
who  bore  only  a  stamp  and  no  direction,  he  was 
puzzled.  He  could  simply  carry  him  to  the  end  of  his 
route,  and  then  turn  him  over  to  another  clerk,  who 
did  the  same.  And  so  from  clerk  to  clerk  the  Griffin 
went  for  sev^eral  days.  One  of  them  tried  to  send  him 
to  the  Dead  Letter  Office,  but  the  officers  there 
would  not  take  him,  for  whatever  he  was,  he  was  cer- 
tainly not  a  dead  letter ;  how  can  you  make  a  dead 
letter  out  of  a  live  Griffin  ?    Finally,  one  of  the  clerks 


150  THE   BOOK  OF  KNIGHT  AND  BARBARA. 

tied  a  large  paper  tag  around  the  Griffin's  neck  and 
wrote  these  words  upon  the  tag  in  large  letters : 

^'  TRY  GRIFFIN'S  MILLS,  GEORGIA." 

In  the  early  dawn  of  a  summer  morning,  Mr.  Ab- 
salom Billingslea,  postmaster  at  Griffin's  Mills,  opened 
his  office  after  the  Tallahassee  Express  had  passed  by. 
The  mocking-birds  sang  in  the  Crape  myrtles  outside 
his  window,  and  a  little  farther  on  the  morning  fogs 
hung  white  and  heavy  over  Brushy  Creek.  Absalom 
Billingslea  emptied  the  mail  pouch  on  the  counter, 
humming  to  himself  the  old  refrain, 

"  Georgia  girls,  there's  none  surpasses, 
For  they  are  fond  of  sorghum  molasses," 

and  proceeded  to  sort  out  the  letters.  He  was  a  good 
man,  but  he  had  never  been  far  outside  of  Spaulding 
County,  and  he  had  never  seen  a  Griffin  before. 
When  this  queer  creature  fell  out  on  the  counter 
among  the  letters  and  papers,  Absalom  Billingslea 
jumped  back  in  astonishment,  and  before  he  had  re- 
covered himself  the  Griffin  had  escaped  through  the 
open  door. 

He  was  gone,  and  to  this  day  Mr.  Billingslea  is 
not  sure  whether  he  really  saw  him,  or  whether  some 


THE  STORY   OF  THE  GRIFFIN.  151 

excellent  peach  brandy  which  he  had  taken  the  night 

before  in  company  with  Colonel  Moses  Grice  had 

caused   the   apparition.       The   Griffin    ran    swiftly 

along  the  empty  street  down  the  hill  toward  Brushy 

Creek.     A   great  fog-bank   hung   over   the   stream, 

looking  like  a  snow-white  mountain  on  which  were 

neither  houses  nor  people.     Fear  of  captui'e  gave  the 

Griffin  unusual  speed,  and  soon  he  began  to  climb 

the  white  wall.     Being  an  unreal  animal,  he  had  no 

difficulty  in  doing  this,  and  within  half  an  hour  he 

was  resting  quietly  on  the  top.     He  said  some  words 

of  cheer  to  the  Postage  Stamp,  and  she  soon  recovered 

herself,  and  began  to  chat  about  her  sisters  and  to 

wonder  whether  they  missed  her  at  home. 

All   too   soon,  however,  the  sun   arose,  and  the 

mists  which  had  come  up  in  the  night  hastened  back 

to  their  hiding  places  in  the  swamp.     The  fog-bank 

vanished,  and  in  an  instant  the  Griffin  found  himself 

struggling   with   the  cold  waters  of  Brushy  Creek. 

He  was  a  stout  swimmer,  and  a  few  strokes  brought 

him  to  the  bank.     But  the  Postage  Stamp  was  not  so 

fortunate.     The  sudden  bath  had  loosened  her  hold 

on  the  Griffin.     She  had  never  learned  to  swim,  and 

she  soon  drifted  into  the  eddy,  where  a  muffle-jaw 

and    a   dollardee   were    already    struggling   for   her 
11 


152 


THE  BOOK  OP  KNIGHT  AND  BARBARA. 


possession.  The  conflict  did  not  last  long.  Tlie 
muffle-jaw  put  out  his  long  under  lip,  his  mouth 
opened  wide,  and  in  it  went  both  the  dollardee  and 


The  Griffin  grieves  over  the  loss  of  the  Postage  Stamp. 

the   Postage   Stamp   together,  and   the  Griffin   saw 
them  no  more. 

The  Griffin  was  profoundly  grieved  by  such  an 
unhappy  end  to  a  pleasant  acquaintance.  He  was, 
however,  an  unreal  animal,  and  to  such  as  he  only 
unreal  things  seem  real.  This  being  a  real  calamity 
he  soon  forgot  it.  He  ran  briskly  across  the  fields, 
farther  and  farther  from  the  town.     Finding  a  large 


THE  STORY  OF   THE  GRIFFIN. 


153 


flat  stump,  he  climbed  upon  it  and  lay  down  to  rest 
and  dry  in  the  sunshine.  The  squirrels  gathered 
around  at  a  respectful  distance,  the  redbirds  sang  to 
him,  the  trumpet-flowers  nodded,  and  everything 
seemed  to  say,  "  How  good  it  is  to  he  alive  in  May ! " 
But  far  above  his  head,  in  great  circles,  flew  the 
turkey-buzzard,    watching   all   his   movements   with 


'Mm  l^yia  ,;/^^()      III, J, 


(  /  ( 


The  turkey-buzzard  falling  on  the  Griffin. 


eager  and  hungry  eye.  The  Griffin  did  not  see  this 
enemy,  and  soon  fell  asleep,  dreaming,  as  only  an  un- 
real animal  can  dream,  of  Crim  Tartary  and  the  far- 


154  THE  BOOK  OP  KNIGHT  AND  BARBARA. 

off  Baobab  tree.  Meanwhile  the  buzzard  slowly 
naiTowed  his  circles,  and  at  last  fell  straight  on  his 
victim,  who  rose  with  a  start.  But  with  savage  beak 
and  unpitying  talons  the  greedy  bird  tore  the  Griffin 
limb  from  limb,  for  an  unreal  animal  has  no  bones, 
and  so  can  offer  no  resistance.  But  its  flesh  is  unreal, 
too,  and  so  not  a  mouthful  of  it  could  the  buzzard 
swallow.  On  the  whole  this  was  of  great  advantage 
to  the  Griffin,  for  when  the  buzzard,  gloating  over 
his  prize,  tried  to  devour  the  flesh,  it  slipped  from  his 
beak  just  as  jelly  slips  through  your  fingers.  At  last 
the  buzzard  fell  to  the  ground  completely  tired  out 
before  he  had  been  able  to  get  a  single  bite. 

Then  came  the  Griffin's  turn.  He  gathered  him- 
self together  in  haste,  for  being  unreal  he  had  no 
blood,  and  therefore  could  not  bleed  to  death.  In 
three  minutes  he  was  as  whole  as  ever,  and  before 
the  buzzard  had  time  to  rise,  the  Griffin  started  off 
across  the  fields  as  fast  as  legs  could  carry  him.  But 
he  soon  became  dissatisfied  with  his  progress,  and 
thought  that  he  would  try  on  his  wings,  which  he 
had  not  worn  for  nearly  a  year. 

So  he  sat  down  on  a  log,  took  his  wings  from  his 
pocket  and  shook  them  out.  They  were  the  Good- 
year patent  gossamer,  the  very  best  quality,  each  of 


THE  STORY  OF  THE  GRIFFIX.  155 

them  rolled  up  in  a  little  case  of  rubber  cloth.  He 
put  on  the  left  wing  lii-st.  After  fastening  one  cor- 
ner at  the  shoulder,  he  slipped  his  hand  through  the 
wristlets,  then  buttoned  it  on  at  the  hips,  and  finally 
at  the  knee  and  the  ankle.  Lastly  he  drew  his  tail 
through  the  back  loop,  and  the  left  wing  was  all 
ready  for  flight. 

Then  came  the  right  wing.  He  had  fastened  it  at 
the  shoulder  and  wrist,  but  before  he  could  button  it 
on  at  the  ankle,  he  heard  a  great  rustling  noise  be- 
hind him.  In  haste  he  looked  around  and  saw  the 
turkey-buzzard  with  clenched  toes  and  savage  eyes 
close  upon  him.  The  Griffin  was  scared,  as  you 
would  surely  be  to  see  such  a  monster  after  you.  He 
forgot  that  his  wings  were  not  rightly  fastened.  He 
forgot  everything  but  the  coming  of  the  angry  buz- 
zard He  spread  his  wings  and  away  he  flew,  with 
the  buzzard  after  him.  But  he  could  use  only  his 
left  wing  properly,  and  so  after  a  little  he  went 
around  and  around  in  a  circle  till  at  last  he  could  fly 
no  longer.  He  then  descended  slowly  and  alighted 
as  best  he  could  upon  the  dashboard  of  the  doctor's 
buggy,  which  stood  in  front  of  Absalom  Billingslea's 
store.  The  terrified  horse  started  to  run,  tore  the 
stone  hitching-post  up  by  the  roots,  and  then  off  he 


156 


THE   BOOK   OP   KNIGHT  AND   BARBARA. 


went,  dragging  it  along,  while  the  Griffin  clung  to 
his  tail,  and  the  Griffin's  wings  flapped  about  him  in 
the  wind  like  a  witch's  cloak.  The  horse  ran  faster 
and  faster,  and  the  hitching-post  pounded  to  the  right 


Tore  the  stoue  hitching-post  up  by  the  roots. 

and  to  the  left  as  if  it  were  a  great  trip-hammer.  At 
last  they  came  to  Brushy  Creek,  where  the  post  struck 
the  bridge  with  such  force  as  to  sink  right  through 
with  the  horse  and  the  Griffin  and  what  there 
was  left  of  the  carriage.  The  waters  of  the  creek 
splashed  on  every  side,  the  sandy  bed  gave  way ;  in 


THE  STORY  OF  THE  GRIFFIN.  157 

an  instant,  horse,  Griffin,  and  hitching-post  vanished 

from  sight,  and  the  people  of  Georgia  saw  them  no 

more. 

III. 

The  Emperor  of  China  ^vas  walking  one  bright 
morning  in  the  flower  garden  of  the  summer  palace 
of  the  great  Wah-Shing.  Artificial  birds  sang  in  the 
trees,  and  the  shrubs  were  made  beautiful  with  gayly 
colored  fans  and  with  little  strips  of  red  tinsel  paper. 
The  Emperor  in  that  country  is  a  Chinaman,  and  so 
all  the  people  that  come  near  him  are  Chinamen  too. 
It  flatters  the  Emperor  to  see  them  look  like  him. 
It  is  for  this  reason  that  they  become  Chinamen. 
This  particular  morning  he  had  come  out  of  the 
Palace  Beautiful,  clothed  in  a  scarlet  robe.  His  head 
was  fi'eshly  shaven,  the  six  long  hairs  of  his  mustache 
were  each  in  its  proper  place,  and  in  his  cue  were 
woven  a  fresh  bunch  of  red  ribbons,  for  the  Emperor 
wore  new  ribbons  every  day.  He  did  this  that  he 
might  give  the  old  ones  to  the  Lord  High  Master  of 
the  Chamber,  whose  fees  were  the  old  ties  of  the 
Emperor's  cue. 

There  is  a  little  pond  in  the  garden  of  the  Em- 
peror's palace,  and  in  this  pond  is  a  flock  of  beautiful 
white  swans.    All  of  them  are  of  the  finest  porcelain, 


158 


THE  BOOK  OF   KNIGHT  AND  BARBARA. 


which  we  call  "  china ; "  and  they  are  far  better  than 
real  swans,  because  they  need  no  food  and  never 
fly  away.  The  Emperor  stopped  to  admire  these 
lovely  creatures,  when  all  at  once  the  water  in  the 
little  lake  began  to  rise.  The  swans  swam  apart, 
and   up  through  the  water  rose  the  head  and  ears 


Up  through  the  water  rose  the  head  of  a  horse. 


of  a  horse.  Then  came  its  neck,  its  forelegs,  its 
body,  and  last  of  all,  its  tail,  and  to  the  very  end  of 
the  tail   there  clung  a  solitarj^  Griffin.     Both   horse 


THE  STORY  OF  THE  GRIFFIN.  159 

and  Griffin  looked  as  though  they  had  been  on  a 
long  journey.  They  were  smeared  with  dried  mud 
and  coal  dust,  and  one  did  not  have  to  look  long  to 
see  that  both  were  very  much  frightened. 


He  cleared  the  fence  at  a  bound. 

The  horse  ran  furiously  across  the  palace  garden. 
Coming  to  the  fence  around  the  garden,  he  cleared  it 
at  a  bound,  but  in  doing  this  the  Griffin  was  caught 
between  the  pickets  of  the  fence  and  could  no  longer 
keep  his  hold. 

The  Emperor  with  eagerness  ordered  the  Lord 
High  Master  of  the  Chamber  and  all  his  attendants 


160 


THE  BOOK  OP   KNIGHT  AND  BARBARA. 


to  catch  the  horse.  They  started  in  pursuit,  running 
as  fast  as  they  could.  As  they  ran,  their  wooden 
slippers  flew  off  from  their  feet,  but  by  a  skillful 
kick,  such  as  only  a  Chinaman  can  give,  each  slipper 
flew  high  in  the  air,  then  forward  over  its  o\vner's 


cS^ 


The  Chinamen  ran  after  the  horse. 


head,  falling  in  front  of  him,  so  that  without  slack- 
ing his  speed  in  the  least,  he  could  step  right  into 
the  slipper  again. 

And  thus  they  ran ;  the  slippei^s  flew  over  and 
over  their  heads,  so  that  it  looked  as  if  they  were 
followed  by  a  flock  of  snow-birds  with  blue  wings. 


THE  STORY   OF  THE   GRIFFIN.  1(51 

for  the  slippers  of  the  Emperor's  attendants  are  all 
white,  with  blue  trimmings.  But  they  never  over- 
took the  horse,  and  for  all  we  know  they  are  running 
yet,  and  wherever  they  are,  you  may  be  sure  the  air 
is  still  full  of  flying  slippers. 

Meanwhile  the  Emperor  stood  alone  in  the  garden, 
and  the  poor  Griffin  lay  on  the  ground  beneath  the 
imperial  picket  fence.  His  Majesty  was  very  anxious 
to  make  the  acquaintance  of  the  Griffin,  but  the  lat- 
ter could  not  receive  the  imperial  recognition  without 
being  formally  presented  to  the  Emperor.  After 
much  meditation,  His  Highness  bethought  himself  of 
a  very  worthy  plan.  Possessing  all  royal  authority, 
he  would  order  himself  to  bring  the  Griffin  in  person 
to  be  presented  to  himself  as  the  Emperor.  Thus 
would  the  demands  of  celestial  etiquette  as  well  as 
those  of  earthly  curiosity  be  satisfied. 

And  so  he  walked  up  to  the  Griffin,  set  him  on 
his  feet,  said  to  him  some  assuring  words  and  pre- 
sented him  to  the  Emperor.  The  acquaintance  thus 
begun  proved  to  be  very  pleasant,  and  the  Griffin 
lived  many  days  in  the  Emperor's  palace.  In  this 
time  the  two  became  great  friends.  The  Griffin  told 
the  Emperor  of  his  many  adventures  by  land  and  sea, 
and  the  Emperor  revealed  to  him  the  mysteries  of 


lt)2  THE   BOOK   OP   KNIGHT   AND   BARBARA. 

court  life,  and  imparted  to  him  the  wisdom  of  Con- 
fucius. Soon  the  Griflfin  was  made  a  mandarin  with 
the  title  of  Lord  High  Consoler  to  his  master,  the 
Emperor. 

All  went  well  until  one  day  when  they  reclined 
together  under  the  shade  of  a  China  tree,  watching  the 
gentle  movements  of  the  China  swans  on  the  little 
pond  in  the  garden.  By  ill  chance  the  conversation 
turned  on  flying,  and  the  Emperor  asked  the  Lord 
High  Consoler  about  his  wings  and  his  manner  of 
using  them.  So,  to  please  the  Emperor,  the  Griffin 
took  them  out  and  put  them  on ;  but  while  his  royal 
friend  was  admiring  them,  the  mischievous  Crown 
Prince  Kin-Sing-Tun  came  out  from  behind  a  camel- 
lia bush  and  tied  a  bunch  of  burning  cold-chop,  or 
firecrackers,  as  we  call  them,  to  the  Griffin's  tail. 

It  is  not  strange  that  the  Griffin  was  startled,  for 
brave  men  may  well  be  scared  by  a  thing  like  that. 
He  sprang  into  the  air.  His  wings  spread  them- 
selves and  bore  him  away  high  over  the  trees.  The 
Emperor  watched  him  until  he  shrank  to  a  little 
speck,  and  the  cold-chop  on  his  tail  left  behind  him 
a  trail  of  fire.  The  Crown  Prince  had  run  away  in 
haste  when  he  found  how  far  his  mischief  was  likely 
to  go,  and  the  Emperor  will  not  know  until  he  reads 


THE  STORY  OF  THE  GRIFFIN.  163 

these  pages  what  caused  the  Lord  High  Consoler's 
sudden  flight. 

When  the  Griflin  again  reached  the  ground,  he 
was  far  away  from  the  palace  of  the  great  Wah- 
Shing,  and  even  beyond  the  Chinese  wall.     He  could 


The  Griffin  flies  away  with  firecrackers  on  his  tail. 

not  fly  back  to  the  Emperor.  He  did  not  know  the 
way.  And  after  all  he  would  not  be  able  to  make 
any .  apolog}"  which  would  account  for  his  leaving 
without  saying  good-by.  Besides,  the  behavior  of 
the  Crown  Prince  showed  him  the  ^^^ckedness  of 
boys,  and  made  him   weary  of   humanity.     He  was 


164 


THE  BOOK  OP   KNIGHT  AND   BARBARA. 


low 


gra 


tired  of  the  world,  tired  of  men,  tired  of  living.  He 
went  into  the  comer  of  a  field  and  dug  a  shal- 
ve  in  the  turf.  Then  he  lay  down  in  the 
grave,  and  pulling  the 
turf  over  his  feet  he 
rolled  up  his  wings 
and  closed  his  eyes. 
There  he  lay  for  sev- 
eral hours  trying  to 
die,  but  he  could  not 
make  it  work.     Sud- 

Tbe  GrifBu  tries  to  die.  ^^^^^y    ^^    OCCUrred    tO 

him  that,  being  an 
unreal  animal,  he  could  not  die,  for  only  real  animals 
can  die.  When  he  remembered  this  he  arose  with  a 
sigh,  replaced  the  sods  of  the  grave,  and  sat  down  on 
them  in  deep  perplexity. 

Across  the  brook  on  the  opposite  hill  stood  a 
large  tree  covered  with  dense  green  foliage  and  fra- 
grant with  a  thousand  blossoms.  As  he  looked  at 
the  tree  strange  memories  crowded  fast  upon  him. 
Under  the  tree  was  great  commotion.  Little  crea- 
tures were  running  hither  and  thither.  Every  mo- 
ment some  of  them  seemed  to  grow  larger  and  larger, 
but  as  they  did  so  the  number  became  less  and  less. 


THE  STORY  OF  THE  GRIFFIN. 


165 


At  last  all  was  quiet,  for  there  was  but  one  of  them 
left.  This  one  stood  quite  alone  beneath  the  tree. 
The  Griffin  looked  at  him  intently.  The  old  scene 
came  back  to  him — Crim  Tartary,  the  Baobab  tree, 
and  the  strange  valley  of  the  Quong-Sin-Lee  ! 

He  stood  for  an  instant  absorbed  in  his  thoughts. 
"  Brother ! "  he  said.  They  rushed  into  each  other's 
arms ;  the  two  were  blended  into  one,  and  the  prob- 
lem of  the  Griffin's  life  was  solved. 


They  rushed  into  each  other's  arms. 


HOW  THE  LITTLE  BOY  BECAME  A  GEXIIJS. 

ONCE  there  was  a  little  boy  and  a  little  girl,  and 
they  lived  in  a  hotel,  and  they  used  to  like  to 
ride  up  and  down  in  the  elevator.  The  elevator  boy 
let  them  do  it,  because  he  was  a  good  boy  and  liked 
little  children.  And  one  day  the  boy  and  girl  came 
to  the  elevator  when  the  elevator  boy  was  gone  to 
lunch,  and  nobody  was  there.  So  they  got  in  and 
pulled  on  the  rope,  and  up  the  elevator  went.  But 
they  didn't  know  how  to  stop  it,  and  so  it  went  on 
past  the  third  floor,  and  the  fourth  floor,  and  the  floor 
their  folks  lived  on,  and  they  couldn't  stop  it  any- 
where. Then  it  went  on  up  to  the  top  of  the  hotel, 
right  on  up  through  the  roof,  and  right  on  up  and 
up,  away  up  into  the  air,  and  they  didn't  know 
what  to  do,  but  just  held  on  and  let  it  go.  So  it 
kept  going  and  going  and  going,  and  by  and  by  it 
went  clear  across  to  the  other  side  of  the  earth. 
And  there  they  were  on  the  island  of  Formosa, 
where  all  the  toys  are  alive,  and  where  the  people 

166 


HOW  THE   LITTLE   BOY  BECAME   A   GENIUS.         167 

are  just  genii,  and  do  nothing  at  all  but  witch  up 
things  for  the  children  to  play  with.  When  they 
came  to  the  other  side  and  the  elevator  stopped,  it 
was  wrong  side  up,  and  they  were  standing  on  their 
heads  on  the  ceiling.  But  the  little  boy  and  little 
girl  didn't  mind  that,  so  they  turned  themselves  over 
and  walked  out  on  the  ground,  and  saw  all  the  blue 
trees  with  pink  leaves  and  all  the  funny  things  that 
grow  in  Formosa.  Then  the  little  boy  picked  up  a 
stone  and  threw  it  against  a  blue  tree,  and  as  soon  as 
it  hit  the  tree  it  went  "  snap  ! "  and  all  the  red  leaves 
on  the  tree  shook  and  rustled.  And  up  came  a  gen- 
ius, and  said :  "  What  does  the  little  boy  want  ? " 
And  the  little  boy  said,  "  T  want  a  popgun."  And 
all  at  once  the  popgun  came  up  out  of  the  ground 
and  walked  right  beside  the  little  boy,  so  that  when- 
ever he  wanted  to  shoot  it  off  all  he  had  to  do  was 
to  reach  out  his  hand  and  it  was  there.  And  when- 
ever he  shot  off  it  went  "  snap  ! "  and  up  came  a  gen- 
ius, and  said :  "  What  does  the  little  boy  want  ? " 
And  it  was  just  the  same  with  the  little  girl,  only 
she  did  not  care  for  popguns,  but  asked  for  a  live 
parasol  which  stood  all  of  itself  on  her  shoulder,  and 
every  time  she  shut  it  up  it  went  "  snap ! "  and  up 
came  a  genius.     And  so  they  had  a  wonderful  time 

12 


168  THE   BOOK  OF  KNIGHT  AND  BARBARA. 

in  Formosa,  and  they  played  with  live  ships  that 
steamed  about  on  the  gravel  walk  and  sailed  over 
the  purple  meadow.  And  you  never  saw  anything 
in  the  way  of  fireworks  like  their  live  firecrackers, 
that  would  stand  u^  on  the  rocks  and  talk  to  you 
just  before  they  went  oif.  And  the  dolls  they  had 
and  the  hobbyhorses,  and  the  live  bows  and  arrows 
and  tin  soldiers,  every  kind  of  thing  that  the 
genii  made  were  as  strange  as  they  could  be.  You 
wouldn't  believe  if  I  should  tell  you,  and  I  couldn't 
tell  you  about  half  of  them  if  I  were  to  talk  all  day. 

But  one  morning  they  got  to  playing  soldier. 
The  little  girl  closed  her  parasol  and  it  went  "  snap ! " 
and  the  genius  came  up,  and  said,  "  What  does  the 
little  girl  want  ? "  And  she  asked  for  ten  toy  sol- 
diers to  stand  in  a  row  on  the  bank  and  present  arms 
with  their  toy  guns.  So  the  soldiers  came  up  out  of 
the  ground  and  presented  arms ;  for  they  were  all 
toys,  and  in  Formosa  the  toys  are  all  alive. 

Then  the  little  boy  shot  off  his  popgun  and  it 
went  "  snap ! "  and  up  came  the  genius,  and  the 
genius  said  again :  "  What  does  the  little  boy  want  ? " 
And  the  little  boy  asked  for  ten  soldiers  big  enough 
to  whip  the  ten  soldiers  of  the  little  girl.  And  the 
little  girl's  ten  soldiers  were  whipped  in  the  fight 


HOW   THE   LITTLE  BOY   BECAME  A  GENIUS.         169 

they  had  right  there  on  the  banks  of  the  yellow 
brook.  And  then  the  little  girl  asked  for  ten  more 
soldiers  twice  as  tall  as  the  others  so  as  to  whip  her 
brother's  soldiers.  Then  he  had  the  genius  make  his 
twice  as  tall  again  so  as  to  whip  hers.  Then  she 
made  hers  bigger,  and  he  made  his  bigger,  and  they 
kept  the  two  genii  working  hard  all  the  time  to 
stretch  the  soldiers  out  so  as  to  get  each  set  big 
enough  to  whip  the  othei*s. 

Before  noon  they  had  got  the  toy  soldiers  so  big 
that  their  heads  reached  up  into  the  clouds,  and 
when  they  fought  theii*  feet  tumbled  around  and 
covered  almost  all  of  the  island  of  Formosa. 

By  and  by  oue  of  the  soldiers  stepped  on  the 
little  girl's  toe,  and  she  began  to  ciy,  and  said: 
"  Take  me  back  to  mamma ! "  And  the  soldier  cried 
too,  and  his  tears  came  down  out  of  the  clouds  just 
like  rain. 

So  the  genius  told  the  soldier  to  stop  crying,  and 
then  he  stretched  him  out  twice  as  long  as  ever. 
Then  the  soldier  reached  down  and  took  the  little 
girl  in  his  arms,  and  he  was  so  tall  now  that  he 
could  reach  clear  back  to  the  other  side  of  the  world. 
So  he  put  the  little  girl  down  softly  on  the  roof  of 
the  hotel  where  her  folks  lived,  and  then  he  stood 


170  THE  BOOK  OF  KNIGHT  AND  BARBARA. 

up  and  shrank  away  again  until  he  came  back  to 
Fonnosa.  Then  she  called  "  Mamma  !  Mamma  !  " 
and  her  folks  came  up  on  the  roof  and  found  her 
there  just  as  the  soldier  was  slipping  back  into  the 
clouds,  and  the  people  who  saw  him  said  it  was  a 
cyclone,  because  they  did  not  know  about  Formosa 
and  what  genii  could  do.  But  the  genii  forgot  to 
send  the  elevator  back  with  the  little  girl,  and  the 
hotel  man  does  not  yet  know  what  became  of  it,  and 
he  will  not  know  until  he  reads  this  story.  So  he 
made  a  new  elevator  and  put  two  elevator  boys  in  it 
so  that  when  one  is  out  to  lunch  the  other  wall  be 
there,  and  the  elevator  will  never  get  away  from 
them. 

When  the  little  boy  in  Formosa  found  that  his 
sister  was  gone  he  did  not  cry,  because  he  was  a  boy, 
and  boys  know  just  what  to  do.  He  took  his  po|> 
gun  and  called  a  genius,  "  Snap  !  snap !  " 

Then  he  told  the  genius  to  get  him  a  berth  on 
the  Steamer  Nippon  Maru  for  San  Francisco.  And 
when  the  little  boy  was  ready  to  start  for  home  he 
made  the  genius  grow  smaller  and  smaller,  so  that  he 
could  put  him  into  his  pocket.  And  the  genius 
made  himself  very  small,  like  a  Japanese  doll,  and 
the  little  boy  brought  him  home  in  his  pocket  just 


HOW  THE  LITTLE  BOY  BECAME  A  GENIUS.         171 

as  he  had  planned.  But  when  he  got  home  the  little 
boy  could  not  make  him  do  anything  more,  for  a 
genius  will  not  go  "  snap ! "  when  he  is  away  from 
Formosa.  He  is  just  a  little  Japanese  doll  now,  and 
won't  do  anything  at  all.  So  the  little  boy  keeps 
him  on  the  shelf  with  his  popguns  and  bows  and  ar- 
rows and  all  things,  and  you  will  find  him  lying 
there  to-day,  if  you  go  into  the  house  where  the  little 
boy's  folks  live  now  that  they  have  left  the  hotel. 

But  his  mother  says  that  the  little  boy  is  a 
genius  himself  now,  and  one  genius  is  all  she  wants 
in  her  house. 


THE  SPIDER  THAT   CAUGHT  BEASTS. 

ONCE  there  was  a  little  boy  who  lived  in  a 
house  with  a  garden  by  the  side  of  a  great 
wood.  One  day  the  little  boy  walked  out  in  the 
garden  and  saw  a  spider  spinning  his  web  on  a  rose- 
bush. And  the  spider  had  a  fat  body,  covered  with 
brown  and  yellow  hairs,  and  a  yellow  head  with  six 
little  black  eyes  on  the  top  of  it,  and  eight  legs  with 
which  he  ran  up  and  do\\Ti  on  the  rosebush.  And 
the  spider  took  a  lot  of  fine  thread  which  he  was  car- 
rying around  in  a  pocket  he  had  in  his  body,  and  out 
of  the  thread  he  made  a  great  web.  The  web  was 
built  of  circles  of  thread,  and  across  the  circles  he 
had  straight  lines  of  webbing,  all  meeting  at  the 
center  just  as  the  spokes  meet  in  the  hub  of  a  wheel. 
And  the  spider  stood  at  the  center  with  his  eight 
legs  spread  out  and  watching  with  all  his  eyes. 
When  a  fly  came  against  the  web  it  As^ould  get  tan- 
gled in  the  fine  threads,  and  then  the  spider  would 
pull  up  on  the  web  and  bring  the  fly  near  him. 
When  he  could  reach  the  fly,  the  spider  would  seize 


THE  SPIDER  THAT  CAUGHT  BEASTS.  173 

Mm  witli  his  feet  and  stuff  him  into  his  mouth,  and 
so  all  the  meat  there  was  in  the  fly  would  become 
part  of  the  spider. 

Then  the  boy  said  to  himself,  "  Now  I  will  make 
me  a  spider.  But  my  spider  shall  be  big,  so  that  I 
can  catch  lions  and  tigers  and  bears  and  all  the 
beasts  that  live  in  the  great  woods."  Then  the  little 
boy  got  a  great  coil  of  rope  and  stretched  it  out  from 
tree  to  tree  in  the  forest,  and  part  of  it  he  stretched 
around  in  circles  and  part  in  straight  lines  from  the 
center  out,  just  like  the  lines  in  the  web  of  the  real 
spider.  Then  he  took  all  the  brass  kettles  and  old 
boilers  and  sheet  iron  he  could  get,  and  he  made  out 
of  it  all  a  huge  spider.  And  he  covered  the  body 
with  a  buffalo-robe,  so  that  it  looked  all  shaggy  mth 
long  hairs.  And  he  took  a  brass  kettle  for  a  head, 
and  on  it  he  put  six  eyes,  and  every  eye  was  a  door- 
knob. And  he  made  a  mouth  out  of  keyholes — 
twenty  of  them — one  by  the  side  of  another.  Then 
out  of  old  stovepipe  he  made  the  legs,  but  he  put  on 
nine  legs  instead  of  eight,  for  he  wanted  to  have  the 
best  spider  in  all  the  woods.  And  so  it  was ;  there 
was  never  a  spider  like  it  in  all  the  world. 

Pretty  soon  the  animals  began  to  come  along,  the 
lions  roaring  and  the  wolves  howling,  and  they  began 


174  THE  BOOK  OF   KNIGHT  AND  BARBARA. 

to  sniff  and  sniff  at  the  big  new  spider's  web.  And 
the  boy  crawled  into  the  spider's  body,  which  he  put 
in  the  center  of  the  web,  and  waited  to  see  what 
would  happen. 

Very  soon  there  was  a  great  scrambling  and  roar- 
ing, and  threshing  about,  and  in  a  minute  he  saw  a 
lion  fast  in  the  web.  And  the  little  boy  knew  what 
to  do,  for  he  had  watched  the  spider  many  a  day,  and 
he  did  just  what  he  had  seen  the  spider  do.  He 
pulled  tight  on  the  web,  and  slowly  drew  the  lion  up 
to  him.  Then  he  opened  the  front  side  of  the  spider 
where  his  mouth  is,  and  threw  the  lion  down  into 
one  of  the  front  legs.  And  there  it  lay  just  as  if  it 
had  been  eaten.  It  was  only  a  mountain  lion,  and 
so  not  very  large ;  and  the  legs  were  big  enough  to 
hold  it,  for  they  were  as  broad  as  a  barrel  at  the  top, 
though  they  grew  smaller  and  smaller  toward  the  toes. 

Next  a  bear  comes  nosing  about,  and  before  he 
knew  it  he  too  was  caught  and  hauled  up  and 
stowed  away  in  one  of  the  hind  legs  of  the  spider. 
It  was  only  a  cinnamon  bear  and  rather  small  at  that, 
so  there  was  plenty  of  room  for  him. 

Then  came  an  antelope  and  a  woodchuck,  and  a 
catamount,  and  they  were  all  caught  and  tucked 
away ;  but  in  the  legs  of  the  spider  they  all  roared 


THE  SPIDER  THAT  CAUGHT   BEASTS.  175 

and  screamed  and  showed  their  white  teeth,  for  they 
didn't  like  it  a  bit.  Then  he  caught  a  wolf  and  a 
coyote  and  a  great  horned  toad,  and  stowed  them 
away  just  as  the  real  spider  tucks  away  the  flies. 
This  filled  the  eight  regular  legs,  and  there  was  just 
room  in  the  extra  one  for  a  wolverene.  But  when 
this  was  caught  the  little  boy  himself  began  to  feel 
crowded.  And  the  coyote  nipped  his  toes,  and  the 
catamount  scratched  his  arm,  and  the  homed  toad 
began  to  stick  his  horns  into  him.  So  the  little  boy 
took  up  the  lid  of  the  spider's  back,  and  before  he 
caught  any  more  beasts  he  crawled  out  and  ran  home 
and  never  said  a  word  to  anybody. 

By  and  by  all  the  people  in  the  little  boy's  house 
saw  a  huge  spider  bigger  than  a  horse  come  wad- 
dling up  the  front  walk,  its  thick  legs  going  thum- 
pety-thump  as  it  tumbled  along.  And  they  were  all 
scared  out  of  their  wits,  and  ran  off  in  every  direc- 
tion— all  but  the  little  boy.  He  sat  on  the  railing  of 
the  veranda  and  just  laughed,  for  he  knew  it  was 
only  his  play  spider  with  an  animal  in  each  leg  to 
w^alk  it  along.  So  he  laughed  again  and  the  animals 
inside  roared  and  howled  and  screamed,  each  one  in 
his  own  voice ;  but  the  lion  loudest  of  all,  for  the 
lion  is  the  king  of  beasts. 


176  THE  BOOK  OP  KNIGHT  AND  BARBARA. 

Then  the  hired  man  got  an  ax  and  came  up 
from  behind  and  struck  the  spider  a  great  blow  on 
the  back,  which  knocked  off  the  lid  of  the  shell. 

Then  all  the  animals  came  out  and  ran  off  to  the 
woods,  and  the  spider  was  empty. 

So  the  little  boy  crawled  into  it,  and  put  one  arm 
into  one  leg  and  one  in  another,  and  one  foot  in  one 
leg  and  one  in  another.  Then  he  walked  the  spider 
back  to  the  woods  with  the  other  five  legs  dragging 
behind.  This  made  it  hard  work  to  get  along,  and 
he  had  to  see  his  way  by  looking  out  through  the  six 
doorknobs. 

But  when  he  got  the  spider  back  to  the  woods 
and  was  tired  of  playing  with  it,  the  hired  man  came 
and  took  do^Yn  the  web,  and  they  found  that  there 
was  rope  enough  in  the  web  for  the  rigging  of  six- 
teen ships.     But  they  were  not  very  large  ships. 

And  now  that  the  little  boy  is  grown  up  to  be 
a  man,  he  does  not  play  spider  any  more  but  tells 
stories,  and  this  is  one  of  the  stories  which  he  told 
his  little  boy.  ^     ^ 


HOW  THE  FLOUXDER'S  MOUTH  WAS  TWISTED. 

/^~^NCE  there  was  a  time  when  there  was  a  great 
^^^  deal  of  trouble  among  the  fishes.  The  big 
fishes  ate  the  little  fishes,  and  they  had  to  keep  run- 
ning away  all  the  time  so  as  not  to  be  eaten  by  still 
bigger  ones,  and  when  the  little  fishes  would  catch 
the  fishes  that  were  still  littler  they  would  eat  them 
too. 

And  there  was  so  much  eating  and  quarreling 
and  trouble  that  the  fishes  made  up  their  minds  that 
they  would  have  a  king  who  would  keep  them  all  in 
order.  So  they  all  stood  in  a  row  out  in  the  sea  one 
day  and  agreed  among  themselves  that  the  one  who 
swam  fastest  and  reached  the  shore  first  should  be 
made  king  of  all  the  fishes.  This  was  because  the 
swiftest  fish  would  be  the- one  that  could  help  the 
little  fishes  soonest  when  some  big  fish  would  try  to 
eat  them  up.  • 

So  they  all  stood  in  a  row  and  waited  for  the 
word  to  go,  and  then  they  swam  as  fast  as  ever  they 

177 


178  THE  BOOK  OF  KNIGHT  AND  BARBARA. 

could  toward  the  shore.  There  was  the  bass  and  the 
mackerel  and  the  sunfish  and  the  mad  tom  and  the 
codfish  and  the  Moorish  Idol  and  all  the  rest  of  the 
fishes,  the  little  sea  horse  with  the  others,  each  one 
swimming  with  all  his  might  to  see  if  he  couldn't 
reach  the  shore  before  all  the  others. 

By  and  W  one  reached  the  goal  ahead  of  all  the 
rest,  and  the  other  fishes  flapped  their  tails  to  cheer 
him.  It  was  the  hemng  who  was  swiftest,  and  so 
he  was  made  king. 

And  the  flounder  was  away  behind  all  the  others, 
for  he  swam  very  slowly  with  his  face  close  to  the 
bottom  of  the  sea.  So  he  could  not  see  who  had 
won  the  race.  When  he  heard  them  all  flapping 
their  tails  to  cheer  the  king,  he  called  to  the  sea 
horse,  who  was  nearest  to  him,  and  asked,  "  Who  is 
it  they  are  making  king  ?  "  And  the  sea  horse  called 
back,  "  The  herring  has  won  and  he  is  now  king  of 
all  the  fishes.  Three  cheers  for  the  herring!  he  is 
all  right !  "  And  the  others  echoed  :  "  Who  is  all 
right  ?     The  Herring." 

But  the  flounder  was  very  envious,  and  twisted 
his  mouth  all  on  one  side,  because  he  wanted  to  b'j 
king  himself.  Then  he  said,  "  The  little  naked  her- 
ring !  the  little  naked  herring ! "  and  he  looked  just 


HOW  THE   FLOUNDER'S  MOUTH    WAS  TWISTED.      179 

as  cross  as  he  could,  with  his  mouth  all  on  one  side. 
When  the  herring,  who  was  the  King  of  the  Fishes, 
heard  what  the  flounder  had  said,  lie  issued  a  ukase 
that  the  flounder  should  wear  his  mouth  on  one  side 
after  that  all  the  time  by  way  of  punishment. 

And  so  the  flounder  always  wears  his  mouth  on 
one  side  now,  and  if  you  ever  catch  one  you  will  find 
it  all  twisted  out  of  shape,  and  the  only  word  it  can 
say  now  is,  "  The  little  naked  herring ! " 

But  the  herring  has  been  king  of  the  fishes  ever 
since,  and  all  the  fishes  are  glad  of  it,  and  now  there 
are  more  herrings  in  the  sea  than  there  are  of  any 
other  kind  of  fishes,  and  you  can  find  one  of  tlie 
king's  family  anywhere. 


r  I  1HERE  once  was  a  lady  whose  dream 
-^    Was  to  feed  a  black  cat  on  whipped  cream, 
But  the  first  cat  she  found 
Spilled  the  cream  on  the  ground. 
And  she  fed  a  whipped  cat  on  black  cream  ! 


HOW  THE  SUX  BEIXGS  THE  BIRTHDAYS  FROM 
ATKA  AXD  ATTU. 

/^NCE  on  a  time  there  were  not  any  children, 
^-^  and  there  were  not  any  birthdays.  So  the  sun 
shone  all  the  time,  and  there  wasn't  any  night  and 
nobody  went  to  sleep.  Then  all  the  animals  could 
talk,  and  wherever  you  went  there  they  were  at  it 
all  the  time,  and  you  couldn't  hear  yourself  think. 

But  when  the  children  came  they  had  to  have 
birthdays,  and  there  was  such  a  lot  of  them  that 
they  had  birthdays  almost  every  day.  Now,  there 
wasn't  any  one  to  send  off  to  get  the  birthday  except 
the  Sun,  and  it  took  him  all  night  to  go  and  get  one, 
and  he  could  bring  but  one  at  a  time.  For  the 
birthdays  are  kept  away  over  on  the  other  side  of 
the  earth,  by  the  edge  of  the  Icy  Sea.  And  the  boys' 
birthdays  they  keep  piled  up  on  a  big  rocky  island 
named  Atka,  and  the  girls'  birthdays  are  kept  on  a 
little  mossy  island  named  Attn.  And  when  the  Sun 
goes  away  over  there  to  get  one  of  the  birthdays  he 
is  gone  all  night.  Then  it  is  dark,  and  everybody 
has  to  go  to  sleep  till  he  comes  back.     It  is  farther 

180 


HOW  THE  SUN  BRINGS  THE  BIRTHDAYS.  181 

to  Attu  than  it  is  to  Atka,  so  when  the  Sun  goes 
after  a  birthday  for  a  girl  he  is  gone  longer  than  he 
is  when  he  goes  for  a  boy's  birthday.  So  boys'  birth- 
days seem  longer,  because  the  Sun  comes  back  sooner 
in  the  morning. 

The  Sun  can  only  bring  one  birthday  at  a  time, 
so  orders  for  birthdays  have  to  be  made  a  long  time 
beforehand  or  else  the  children  won't  have  any 
birthdays  at  all. 

To-morrow  morning  the  Sun  will  come  back  from 
Atka  and  bring  a  birthday  for  Knight,  and  next 
week  we  wtII  send  him  for  Barbara's  birthday.  She 
is  a  little  girl,  so  she  has  to  wait  till  Knight  has  had 
his  tuiTi.  But  the  Sun  will  have  to  leave  to-morrow 
night  again  to  go  to  Attu  to  get  a  birthday  for  Elsie 
Branner  or  to  Atka  for  Olaf  Jenkins  or  somebody  else. 

Then  to-morrow  evening  after  the  Sun  is  gone  the 
Moon  will  come  along  over  Mount  Hamilton  and  carry 
Knight's  birthday  back  to  Atka  when  he  gets  through 
with  it  and  has  gone  to  bed.  Then  the  Moon  will 
leave  it  till  Knight  wants  it  again  next  year.  Then 
the  Sun  will  have  to  leave  California  and  go  back 
to  the  Icy  Sea  to  get  it.  Then  it  will  be  night  here, 
because  we  shall  get  into  the  shadow  that  California 
makes  when  the  Sun  is  on  the  other  side  of  the  world. 


LORO   BOXITO. 

(With  acknowledgments  to  John  Casper  Branner.) 

"TT"IS  name  was  Loro  Bonito,  for  he  was  a  par- 
-"' — ^  rot,  and  Loro  Bonito  means  Pretty  Polly  in 
Spanish.  He  was  bright  green  in  color,  but  his 
head  was  yellow,  and  there  was  a  red  epaulet  on 
each  of  his  shoulders.  He  was  bom  in  the  woods 
above  the  city  of  Guatemala,  but  a  boy  caught  him 
when  he  was  young,  and  gave  him  to  a  little  giil 
who  lived  in  the  city,  and  the  little  girl's  name  was 
Placida. 

And  the  little  girl  used  to  feed  him  and  taught 
him  to  speak  Spanish.  She  said  to  him,  "  Lorito, 
quieres  tortilla?" — "Little  parrot,  desirest  thou  a 
tartlet  ? '' — for  this  is  the  sweet  Spanish  way  of  say- 
ing, "  Polly  want  a  cracker  ? "  And  Loro  learned  to 
mimic  the  fife  and  drum  which  he  heard  from  the 
Presidio,  where  the  soldiers  were  at  night  and  morn- 
ing. And  he  learned  to  call  out  the  numbers  of  lot- 
tery tickets,  "  Ochociento  sessente-ocho,"  and  all  the 

182 


LORO   BOXITO.  183 

rest  of  them.  And  he  sang  the  little  Spanish  song, 
"  Me  gustan  todas  en  general ! "  which  means  that  all 
""  little  girls  are  nice,"  as  well  as  some  others.  But  on 
Sundays  little  Pldcida  went  to  church  and  heard  long 
sermons  in  Latin  which  she  didn't  understand,  so  she 
taught  the  words  to  Loro,  because  she  thought  he 
might  get  some  good  out  of  them. 

So  he  learned  to  say  the  Latin  words  after  Pld- 
cida,  and  intone  them  so  that  every  one  seemed  like 
the  note  of  an  organ — "  Peccavi,  peccavi,  miserere  ! " 
he  would  say,  "  Per  augustd,  ad  angustd ! "  and  all 
the  rest  of  it  down  to  "  Pax  vobiscum  ! "  which  some- 
times came  at  the  end.  Then  he  would  change  his 
manner,  for  so  the  little  girl  had  taught  him,  and  he 
would  call  out  in  the  most  cheerful  tones,  "  Vamos  A 
los  toros !"—"  Let's  go  to  the  bullfight !  "—for  in 
Guatemala  those  who  go  to  the  church  on  Sunday 
morning  have  a  bullfight  in  the  afternoon.  People 
do  not  do  that  here  in  Palo  Alto  where  we  live ;  but 
it  is  a  warm  country,  Guatemala  is,  and  that  makes  a 
good  deal  of  difference. 

One  day  Loro  was  missing,  and  they  could  not 
find  him  anywhere.  Little  Pldcida  looked  for  him 
high  and  low,  but  she  could  not  find  him.  She 
called  out,  "  Loro,  Loro,  quieres  tortilla  ?  "  and  "  Pax 

13 


184  THE  BOOK  OF  KNIGHT  AND  BARBARA. 

vobiscum,"  and  "  Me  gustan  todas,"  but  he  did  not 
come. 

At  last  her  people  thought  that  some  cat  or  calele 
bird,  or  some  other  horrid  creature,  had  carried  off 
Loro,  and  that  he  would  never  be  seen  again. 

And  when  the  water-carrier's  boy  brought  in 
another  parrot  whose  name  was  Loro  Verde,  because 
he  was  green,  head  and  all,  her  father  said  she 
might  buy  him,  and  she  taught  him  to  sing,  "  Mis  ojos 
negros ! "  which  is  easier  to  learn  than  "  Me  gustan 
todas."  It  tells  all  about  the  black  eyes  of  little 
girls,  for  all  girls  have  black  eyes  in  Guatemala. 

One  day  all  the  people  went  out  to  the  coffee 
plantation,  which  is  in  the  country  at  Rio  Mojara, 
not  far  from  Guatemala. 

And  Pldcida  was  sitting  on  a  rock  by  a  brook  in 
the  thick  shade  of  the  India-rubber  tree,  humming 
to  herself  the  song  of  the  black  eyes  of  Manuela, 
when  she  heard  a  strange  and  w^onderful  noise  in 
the  leaves  above  her  head.  It  sounded  like  a  great 
chanting  choir,  but  the  voices  were  high  and  sharp 
and  they  did  not  keep  in  time  nor  tune.  "  Peccavi, 
peccavi ! "  she  heard  from  the  trees,  "  Miserere  Dom- 
ine."  Then  it  went  on,  "Per  august^,  ad  angustd," 
with  the  rest  down  to  "  Pax  vobiscum."     Then  all 


LORO  BONITO.  185 

were  silent  for  a  minute,  when  a  big  green  parrot 
with  a  yellow  head  flew  out  from  the  rest  to  another 
tree,  laughed  a  little,  and  called  down  to  PMcida, 
"  Vamos  d  los  toros !"  Then  they  all  flew  away  with 
a  great  rustle,  and  the  little  girl  never  saw  them  any 
more.  But  it  seems  that  Loro  Bonito  got  some  good 
from  the  sermon,  even  if  PMcida  did  not. 


/ 


HOW  THE  RED  FOX  WEXT  HUNTING. 

{With  acknowledgments  to  A.  C.  Basseft,  Esq.,  of  Menlo  Park,  Cal.) 

ONCE  on  a  time  there  was  a  great  tall  rabbit, 
the  kind  the  miners  call  the  "narrow-gauge 
mule  " ;  but  he  was  not  a  mule  at  all,  and  his  real 
name  was  "  Jack  Rabbit."  His  home  was  in  Mon- 
tana, and  he  lived  by  the  river  they  call  the  Silver 
Bow.  He  could  run  faster  than  any  of  the  other 
beasts,  because  he  could  go  lickety-clip,  lickety-clip 
over  the  tops  of  the  sagebrushes,  and  he  did  not 
have  any  brush  of  his  own  to  carry. 

And  there  was  a  Red  Fox  who  lived  on  the  Sil- 
ver* Bow  too,  and  he  went  hunting  because  he 
wanted  rabbit  meat  for  dinner.  But  while  he  could 
run  very  fast,  he  could  not  bound  over  the  tops  of 
the  sagebrush ;  for  his  own  brush,  which  he  always 
carried  with  him,  because  he  was  very  proud  of  it, 
would  catch  on  the  thorns  of  the  other  kinds  of 
brush,  and  so  would  keep  him  back. 

186 


HOW  THE  RED  FOX  WENT  HUNTING.      187 

So  lie  sent  for  his  cousin,  the  Coyote,  to  come 
and  help  him.  Now  the  Coyote  lived  out  in  the 
country  by  Hardscrabble  Mountain,  and  was  not 
proud  at  all,  for  he  was  big  and  gray  and  awkward. 
He  had  only  a  little  brush  of  his  own  to  carry, 
and  no  one  praised  him  for  his  beauty.  But  with  all 
that  the  Coyote  could  run  very  fast,  for  he  has  In- 
dian blood  in  him.  The  one  trouble  was  that  his  hind 
feet  ran  faster  than  his  forefeet.  So  he  has  to  stop 
every  little  while  and  run  sidewise  awhile  to  unkink 
himself  and  give  nis  forefeet  a  chance  to  catch  up. 

When  the  Coyote  came  up  they  saw  the  Rabbit 
bounding  along  through  the  bushes,  going  around  in 
a  great  circle  so  that  he  always  came  back  to  the 
same  place.  He  always  liked  to  do  that,  for  then  he 
could  tell  just  how  fast  he  was  getting  along. 

So  the  Fox  lay  low  and  hid  his  own  brush  in 
the  sagebrush,  and  the  Coyote  followed  the  Rabbit 
around  the  circle.*  And  he  just  kept  up  with  the 
Rabbit  all  the  way,  for  the  Rabbit  wasn't  scared  yet 
and  didn't  run  very  fast.  And  when  they  had  gone 
once  around  the  circle  the  Rabbit  passed  the  Fox, 
and  then  the  Fox  got  up  and  chased  him  and  was 
only  a  few  feet  behind.  And  the  Coyote  stopped 
and  ran  sidewise  for  a  while  to  unkink  himself,  and 


188 


THE   BOOK  OF   KNIGHT   AND   BARBARA. 


then  he  lay  down  in  the  bushes  and  waited  for  the 
Rabbit  to  come  back. 

The  Rabbit  was  much  scared  when  he  saw  the 
Fox  close  behind  him,  so  he  ran  and  bounded  very 
fast,  and  the  Fox  kept  falling  behind  because  he  had 
his  long  brash  to  carry.  But  he  kept  at  it  just  the 
same,  and  when  the  Rabbit  came  ai'ound  the  circle 
to  where  he  started  there  was  the  Coyote  waiting 
for  him.  The  Rabbit  had  to  make  a  great  jump  to 
get  over  the  Coyote's  head.  Then  they  went  around 
again,  and  the  Coyote  kept  close  behind  all  the  way, 
and  the  Rabbit  began  to  get  tired.  When  the  Coy- 
ote's hind  legs  got  tangled  up,  then  the  Fox  was 
rested,  and  he  took  up  the  chase.  So  they  kept 
.  on,  each  one  tak- 

uJJ  A\  i^S   ^^^    turn,    ex- 

'  cept    the    Rabbit, 

who  had  to  take 
his  own  turn  all 
the  time. 

Nobody  else 
was  there  when 
they  came  to  divide  up  what  they  caught ;  but  I  saw 
the  Coyote  the  next  day,  and  he  looked  so  lank  and 
very  empty  that  I  think   that  the  Red  Fox  must 


Wben  they  came  to  divide. 


HOW  THE  RED  POX  WENT  HUNTING. 


189 


have  taken  all  the  rabbit  meat  for  himself.  I  think 
that  he  left  the  Coyote  just  the  ears  for  his  part,  and 
a  rabbit's  foot  to  carry  in  his  pocket  for  good  luck. 


rriHERE  once  was  a  faithful  old  ghost 
-^    Who  sat  all  night  long  at  his  post ; 

At  the  first  break  of  day 

He  spanished  away 
Lest  the  sun  his  An-at-omy  roast  ^ 


^-^^ 


SCRYMIR  THE  GIAXT. 

"TTTHEN  Odin  climbed  up  on  his  air  throne  one 
'  '  morning  and  looked  out  on  the  earth,  he 
saw  a  great  big  frost-giant  away  off  in  the  north. 
The  frost-giant  walked  along  until  he  came  to  a  flock 
of  sheep.  Then  he  seized  the  shepherd  and  tossed 
him  out  into  the  water  and  picked  up  the  sheep  and 
put  them  into  his  pocket.  Then  he  lazily  walked 
away  over  the  hills,  pulling  the  sheep  out  of  his 
pocket  and  cracking  and  eating  them  just  as  you 
would  eat  hazel-nuts. 

Odin  did  not  like  that  sort  of  thing,  so  he  told 
his  boy  Thor  to  take  his  hammer  and  go  up  there 
and  hammer  that  frost-giant.  So  Thor  took  his 
hammer  and  walked  over  to  Jotunheim,  where  the 
giants  have  their  castle.  When  he  was  outside  the 
castle  he  found  a  great  hulking  fellow  who  went 
along  with  him  and  carried  his  baggage,  so  that  Thor 
hadn't  anything  to  do  but  to  walk  around  and  hit 
the  rocks  with  his  hammer,   knocking  them  all  to 

190 


SCRYMIR  THE  GIANT. 


191 


The  frost-giant  eating  sheep. 


192  THE   BOOK  OF   KNIGHT  AND  BARBARA. 

pieces,  and  to  tell  what  he  was  going  to  do  when  he 
got  up  among  the  giants. 

They  went  to  sleep  that  night,  and  by  and  by 
Thor  woke  up  and  heard  an  awful  sound  like  the 
crashing  of  all-timbers  and  the  noise  of  all-thunders. 
When  he  heard  the  noise  he  was  frightened  and  ran 
into  a  house  he  saw  there  that  was  open  at  one  end 
and  had  a  big  room  and  a  little  room.  He  crawled 
away  into  the  little  room  and  stayed  there  until  the 
noise  stopped.  The  next  time  he  heard  the  noise 
he  went  out  to  see  what  it  was,  and  he  found  that 
it  was  the  big  boy  Scrymir  that  had  come  along 
with  him.  Scrymir  was  lying  on  the  ground  and 
snoring  away  with  all  his  might,  and  Thor  saw 
that  the  house  he  had  run  into  was  just  Scrymir's 
mitten  that  he  had  thrown  off,  so  big  and  clumsy 
that  it  looked  like  a  house.  So  Thor  took  his  ham- 
mer, for  he  did  not  like  Scrymir  very  well,  and  ran 
up  to  him  where  he  was  snoring  and  hit  him  a  big 
blow  in  the  face  with  it,  striking  with  all  his  might. 
Scrymir  stopped  his  noise  for  a  minute  and  almost 
waked  up,  and  he  said,  "  What  is  this  ?  Somebody's 
dropping  sand  on  me ;"  and  then  he  went  to  sleep 
again  and  snored  again  louder  than  ever,  so  that  the 
rocks  shook   and  the  trees   trembled.      Then  Thor 


SCRYMIR  THE  GIANT.  I93 

went  up  to  him  again,  and  taking  up  his  big  hammer 
he  struck  him  in  the  face  just  as  hard  as  he  could,  and 
Scrymir  waked  up  for  a  moment,  and  said,  "  What  is 
this  ?  I  wish  these  flies  wouldn't  bother  me ;"  and 
then  he  went  to  sleep  again  and  snored  louder  than 
ever.  Then  Thor  went  up  to  him  with  his  hammer 
in  both  hands  and  struck  him  just  as  hard  as  he  could 


Thor  striking  Scrymir  with  his  hammer. 

strike,  and  Scrymir  woke  up  again.  "I  wish  these 
birds  would  stop  dropping  leaves  here,"  he  said ;  and 
then  Thor  ran  back  into  the  thumb  of  the  mitten  and 
stayed  there  till  morning. 

When  it  came  morning  Thor  walked  up  to  the 
gates  of  the  castle  of  Jotunheim,  and  the  walls  of  the 
gate  were  as  high  as  the  sky  and  he  could  hardly  see 


194 


THE  BOOK  OF  KNIGHT  AND  BARBARA. 


to  the  top  of  the  gate.  And  when  he  went  in  he 
found  the  king  of  the  giants,  and  the  king  asked  him 
what  he  wanted.  Thor  had  two  men  with  him,  and 
the  king  said,  "  Who  are  these  little  fellows  that  have 
strayed  in  here  ? "  And  then  he  asked  Thor  if  there 
was  anything  they  could  do ;  and  Thor  said  that  he 


Thor  eating  against  the  king's  man. 


felt  so  hungry  that  he  could  eat  an  ox.  Then  the 
king  gave  him  something  to  eat,  and  told  him  that  if 
he  could  eat  as  fast  as  one  of  his  men,  he  was  a  good 


SCRYMIR  THE  GIANT.  .  195 

deal  smarter  than  lie  thought  he  was.  So  Thor  began 
to  eat  with  all  his  might,  and  ate  up  the  meat  just 
as  fast  as  he  could,  but  the  giant's  man  ate  faster. 
Besides,  he  ate  the  dishes  and  all,  and  the  pots  in 
which  the  meat  was  cooked,  and  Thor  looked  on 
with  surprise. 

Then  the  giant  reached  for  his  drinking  horn,  and 
said,  "  Up  here  we  generally  drink  this  at  one  swallow. 
If  you  are  thirsty  you  ought  to  do  it  even  quicker 
than  that."  So  Thor  took  up  the  drinking  horn 
and  drank  with  all  his  might ;  but  drink  as  hard  as 
he  would,  he  could  not  empty  the  horn.  It  seemed 
just  as  full  after  he  had  filled  himself  with  ale  as  it 
was  when  he  began.  And  the  giant  looked  at  him, 
and  said,  "  You  are  a  puny  fellow  if  you  can  not  drink 
this  horn  at  one  swallow."  Then  he  said,  "  Maybe 
you  can  do  something  else ;  maybe  you  are  strong ; 
there  is  an  old  cat  on  the  floor  there.  Just  see  if  you 
can  lift  her."  So  Thor  went  out  to  the  floor,  feeling 
a  little  ashamed  that  he  could  not  empty  the  drink- 
ing horn.  Then  he  took  hold  of  the  cat  around  the 
waist,  though  he  could  hardly  reach  around  her,  and 
lifted  as  much  as  he  could ;  but  strain  as  hard  as  he 
might,  he  could  not  raise  one  paw.  Sometimes  he 
would  move  the  cat  just  for  a  minute,  and  when  he 


196 


THE  BOOK  OF  KNIGHT  AND  BARBARA. 


did  that  everything  seemed  to  crack.     But  the  cat 
stuck  to  the  floor,  till  he  gave  it  up. 

And  then  the  king  said,  "  Out  there  in  the 
yard  you  will  find  an  old  woman.  You  go  out  and 
wrestle  with  her.  She  is  the  weakest  one  of  all 
of  us.     Maybe  you  can  throw  her.     If  you  can  you 


=fr 


Thor  trying  to  lift  the  cat. 


can  do  more  than  I  think."  And  so  Thor  went 
out  and  began  to  wrestle .  with  the  old  woman,  and 
every  time  he  took  hold  of  her  she  would  trip  him 
up  and   throw  him   down   on  the  ground;   and  he 


SCRYMIR  THE  GIANT.  197 

tried  again  and  again.     But  every  time  she  was  too 
mucli  for  him. 

So  lie  felt  very  much  ashamed  and  left  the  castle 
and  started  back  on  the  road  from  Jotunheim.  As  he 
came  out  of  the  castle  he  saw  Scrymir  coming.  Then 
he  looked  at  him  a  little  closer  and  saw  that  Scrymir 
was  the  same  person  as  the  king  of  the  castle.  Then 
Scrymir,  the  king  of  the  giants,  told  Thor  how  he 
had  been  fooled  inside  the  castle  ;  that  when  he  had 
tried  to  eat,  the  man  who  ate  against  him  was  Fire, 
and  Fire  could  devour  the  food  and  the  dishes  in 
which  the  food  was  kept.  The  drinking  horn  he  had 
tried  to  empty  was  the  ocean  itself,  and  as  fast  as  he 
drank,  so  fast  the  tides  would  fill  it  up  again.  One 
end  seemed  like  a  drinking  horn,  but  the  other  end 
was  the  great  sea  that  never  could  be  dry.  Then  the 
cat  was  no  cat  at  all,  but  the  great  Mitgard  serpent, 
whose  tail  runs  around  the  world  and  then  goes  down 
her  own  throat,  and  so  holds  the  whole  world  to- 
gether. "  When  you  began  to  lift  on  the  serpent," 
he  said,  "  we  could  hear  its  bones  crack,  and  we  were 
afraid  you  might  pull  it  in  two,  so  the  earth  would 
all  fall  to  pieces.  Then  the  old  woman  you  WTestled 
with  was  Time,  and  Time  goes  on  forever.  Time  can 
throw  any  man.     She  will  last  after  you  and  I  and 


198  THE   BOOK   OP   KNIGHT   AND   BARBARA. 

all  the  giants  and  all  the  men  on  the  earth  are  gone. 
She  can  throw  us  all,  and  it's  no  wonder  that  she 
threw  you." 

And  then  Thor  looked  at  him  and  saw  how  his 
face  grew  large,  and  there  were  great  gullies  in  his 
cheeks  and  on  his  forehead.  Then  Scrymir  said: 
"  Those  are  the  marks  of  your  hammer — ^great  gullies 
that  big  trees  could  grow  in,  and  houses  could  be 
built  in,  and  with  lairs  for  wild  beasts."  And  then 
Thor  looked  at  him  again  and  he  saw  that  Scrymir 
was  no  man  at  all,  but  the  old  rough  world  itself, 
whose  face  was  covered  with  the  scars  of  his  hammer. 

So  he  went  back  home  to  Odin  his  father  and 
told  him  that  the  giants  up  there  in  Jotunheim  were 
too  big  for  him  to  fight  with.  If  he  went  there 
again  he  must  have  a  new  hammer,  and  it  must  be  as 
large  as  all  the  earth. 


THE   BOYS   THAT   PLAYED   LEAPFROG. 

/^NCE  there  was  a  lot  of  boys,  and  they  lived  in 
^^  the  edge  of  the  great  fir  forest  by  the  side  of 
tlie  Icy  Sea.  So  they  played  leapfrog  and  jumped 
over  each  other's  head  just  as  frogs  do.  And  one  day, 
when  they  were  having  great  fun  and  were  going 
over  one  another's  heads  in  fine  shape,  Perseus  came 
flying  along,  carrying  the  head  of  Medusa.  And 
Perseus  stopped  to  look  at  the  boys,  and  before  he 
thought  what  he  was  doing  he  had  turned  the  old 
head  toward  them  and  changed  them  all  into  stone. 

And  there  the  boys  were.  They  couldn't  get 
down  and  they  couldn't  come  apart,  for  they  were  all 
stone  together.  And  Perseus  saw  their  father  com- 
ing, so  he  flew  away  as  fast  as  he  could,  for  he  knew 
that  their  father  wouldn't  like  it  when  he  saw  what 
he  had  done  with  the  old  head  of  Medusa. 

When  the  father  saw  the  boys  one  above  another 
and  all  fastened  tight  and  turned  into  stone,  he  felt 
very  bad   and  began    to   cry.     But   that   didn't   do 

14  199 


200 


THE  BOOK  OF  KNIGHT  AND  BARBARA. 


any  good,  so  he  took  the  boys  home  and  set  them 
up  in  front  of  his  house. 

And  there  they  are  yet,  and  when  you  go  up  to  the 
icy  Sea  and  stop  at  the  little  village  of  Ka-Ke,  where 
the  Haida  people  live,  by  the  edge  of  the  fir  woods. 


The  boys  that  played  leapfrog. 

there  you  will  see  the  boys  that  played  leapfi'og,  set 
up  right  in  front  of  the  house.  And  there  are  a  lot  of 
other  funny  things  there  too,  and  if  you  don't  know 
what  they  all  are,  the  thing  to  do  is  to  go  right  into 
the  house  and  ask  about  them. 


HOW   THE  JELLYFISH   LOST   HIS   BONES.* 

'TT  was  the  King  of  the  Weirds,  and  he  sat  in  a 
-^  tower  of  his  castle.  And  all  around  him  on  the 
walls  the  Weirds  stood  and  wept,  and  on  the  tallest 
turret  the  black  crow  sat  and  said,  "  Caw,  caw,  caw  ! " 
And  the  castle  stood  by  the  shore  of  the  sea,  and  the 
King  looked  far  over  the  waves  to  the  Monkeys' 
Island.  And  the  Prince  of  the  Weirds,  the  King's 
little  boy,  lay  in  his  trundle-bed  by  the  throne  and 
moaned  all  the  time.  And  the  Prince  was  very  sick, 
for  he  had  eaten  the  green  fruit  from  the  jujube 
tree,  and  there  was  nothing  could  save  him  but  a 
monkey's  liver.  And  the  Weirds  all  wept  as  they 
stood  on  the  walls  of  the  castle,  and  the  black  crow 
on  the  turret  said  "  Caw,  caw ! "  And  the  Prince 
could  not  play  with  his  live  toy  soldiers,  or  his 
golden  popgun,  or  his  sugar  dog  Tiny,  but  lay  in  his 
bed  and  moaned  and  cried  for  monkey's  liver. 

So  the  King  pounded  on  the  floor  with  his  scep- 
ter and  called  "  What  ho ! "     Then  he  sent  to  the 

*  After  a  Japanese  tale,  translated  by  Mr.  A.  H.  Chamberlain. 

201 


202  THE  BOOK  OF  KNIGHT  AND  BARBARA. 

shore  for  his  favorite  Jellyfish,  who  ran  on  errands  for 
him  in  the  sea  just  as  the  black  crow  ran  on  errands 
in  the  air.  The  Jellyfish  came  up  from  the  water 
and  touched  his  hat  to  the  King,  and  said :  "  What 
does  youi*  Majesty  command  ? "  Now  in  these  days 
the  Jellyfish  was  a  sure-enough  fish.  And  it  had 
head  and  tail  and  fins  enough  to  swim  with,  and  a 
place  where  it  could  fold  them  up  when  it  wanted 
to  walk  out  on  the  beach.  For  the  Jellyfish  had 
legs,  too,  and  could  walk,  and  he  wore  a  hat  and 
carried  a  sword  by  his  side,  and  he  looked  like  a 
little  soldier  when  he  stood  on  shore.  And  the 
Prince  liked  to  play  with  the  Jellyfish,  and  they  dug 
holes  in  the  sand  together  and  made  sand  pies  and 
sometimes  they  went  wading  in  the  surf. 

So  the  Jellyfish  came  walking  up  the  stairs  with 
his  sword  by  his  side  and  his  fins  nicely  folded  in 
the  sheath  down  his  back.  And  the  King  said, 
\"  What  ho !  You  must  swim  away  across  the  sea 
to  the  Monkeys'  Island,  and  bring  me  a  monkey  with 
his  liver  in." 

And  the  Jellyfish  touched  his  hat,  and  shook  out 
his  fins  and  ran  down  the  stairs  to  the  sea  and  swam 
away  and  away,  just  as  the  King  had  told  him.  And 
the  Weirds  all  watched  him  while  he  swam,  and  the 


HOW  THE  JELLYFISH   LOST  HIS  BONES. 


203 


tears  ran  down  their  faces,  and  the  black  crow  on  the 
turret  said,  "  Caw,  caw  ! " 

When  the  Jellyfish  came  to  the  Monkeys'  Island, 
he  saw  a  Monkey  sitting  on  the  limb  of  a  tree.     And 


He  saw  a  Monkey  sitting  on  the  limb  of  a  tree. 

the  Monkey  looked  pleased,  for  he  had  never  seen  a 
Jellyfish  before,  and  he  was  very  tired  of  living  with 
the  monkey  people  and  seeing  nobody  but  monkeys, 
monkeys,   monkeys    everywhere,   just    like   a   great 


204  THE   BOOK  OP   KNIGHT   AND   BARBARA. 

menagerie.  So  the  Jellyfish  said,  "  Come,  Monkey, 
don't  you  want  to  go  out  for  a  sail  on  the  water? 
Come  to  the  land  of  the  Weirds  with  me  and  I  will 
show  you  the  King  and  the  Castle  and  the  little 
Prince  of  the  Weirds,  and  the  crow  that  says  '  Caw  ' 
on  the  turret." 

"All  right,"  said  the  Monkey,  and  he  clittibed 
down  the  tree  in  two  jumps,  and  took  the  Jellyfish 
by  the  hand,  for  Jellyfishes  had  arms  and  hands  in 
those  days  as  well  as  legs  and  fins  and  bones  and 
everything. 

And  the  Jellyfish  told  the  Monkey  to  get  on  his 
back.  Then  he  spread  his  fins  and  leaped  into  the 
sea.  Away  they  went,  over  the  waves  till  they  came 
to  the  shore  by  the  King's  castle.  And  all  the 
Weirds  stood  up  and  looked  at  them,  and  the  crow 
said,  "Caw,  caw!  Beware,  O  Monkey,  with  your 
liver  in."  So  the  Jellyfish  shook  off  the  salt  water, 
and  dusted  the  sand  from  his  feet  and  folded  his  wet 
fins.  Then  he  took  the  Monkey  by  the  arm,  and  arm 
in  arm  they  went  up  the  marble  stairs  to  the  throne 
of  the  King  of  the  Weirds.  "What  ho !"  said  the 
King,  "  and  have  you  brought  me  the  Monkey  with 
the  liver  in?" 

Then  he  called  to  the  chief  cook  to  come  in  and 


^     HOW  THE  JELLYFISH   LOST  HIS  BONES.  205 

carve  the  Monkey,  and  the  cook  came  in  and  sharp-, 
ened  his  knife  on  a  stone. 

Then  the  Monkey  was  scared,  and  he  ran  up  the 
wall  and  sat  on  the  top  of  the  throne  chattering 
away  to  himself  and  shivering  as  if  he  were  cold. 

■'   And  the  King  could  not  understand   him,  and 
said,  "  What  ho,  O  Monkey  !  what  is  this  you  say  ? " 

And  the  Monkey  got  his  voice  again,  for  in  those 
days  all  the  animals  could  talk.  That  was  before 
there  were  so  many  little  children  to  do  the  talking 
for  all.  And  the  Monkey  said,  "I  am  so  sor^,  O 
great  King.  My  liver  is  so  heavy  that  I  always 
leave  it  at  home  when  I  go  visiting.  It  is  over  on 
the  Monkeys'  Island  hanging  on  the  limb  of  the  tree 
where  I  have  my  home.  Oh,  if  you  had  only  told 
me,  then  I  would  have  brought  it  along,  and  his 
highness  the  Prince  would  have  been  well  again." 
Then  the  Monkey  said,  "  Wo  is  me ! "  and  the 
Weirds  all  wept  and  the  crow  said  "  Caw,  caw ! " 

And  the  King  said,  "What  ho,  O  Jellyfish  !  take 
the  Monkey  home  and  bring  his  liver  only  back 
with  you." 

So  away  they  swam  again  to  the  Monkeys'  Island, 
and  the  Monkey  clung  tight  to  the  Jellyfish  and 
shivered  as  he  chattered  to  himself  in  a  language  the 


206  THE  BOOK  OF  KNIGHT  AND  BARBARA. 

Jellyfish  could  not  understand.  When  they  came  to 
the  shore  the  Monkey  ran  swiftly  up  the  tree  and 
climbed  on  the  long  branch.  "  Wo  is  me ! "  he 
called  to  the  Jellyfish,  "  I  am  undone  and  all  is  lost. 
My  liver  is  gone.  Some  one  has  stolen  it.  And 
what  will  l2be  poor  Prince  do  ? "  Then  he  chattered 
away  to  himself,  and  softly  opened  and  closed  one 
eye  to  let  a  tear  fall  from  it,  and  it. dropped  down  on 
the  nose  of  the  Jellyfish. 

And  the  Monkey  chattered  again,  and  all  the 
other  monkeys  heard  him  and  ran  away,  and  each 
one  took  his  liver  with  him,  so  the  Jellyfish  could 
not  find  a  liver  anywhere. 

In  the  Castle  of  the  Weirds  the  King  sat  and 
gnashed  his  teeth,  and  said :  "  What  ho  ! "  when  he 
saw  the  Jellyfish  swimming  back  alone.  And  the 
Weirds  all  wept  again,  and  the  sick  Prince  groaned 
and  the  black  crow  said  "  Caw,  caw  !  beware  of 
the  Monkey,  O  King,  beware  ! " 

When  the  Jellyfish  came  up  from  the  beach  and 
entered  the  castle  gate  the  King  went  out  to  meet 
him.  He  threw  down  his  scepter  as  he  stepped  off  the 
throne.  He  picked  up  his  umbrella  which  was  stand- 
ing in  the  hall,  and  he  pounded  the  Jellyfish  with  it 
until  he  broke  every  bone  in  his  body.     Then  he 


HOW  THE  JELLYFISH  LOST  HIS  BONES.  207 

beat  liim  again  till  he  hadn't  any  fins  or  any  bones, 
or  any  tail,  or  any  legs,  or  anything  else  in  him  but 
just  jelly. 

Ever  since  then  all  the  Jellyfishes  there  are  in  all 
the  seas  have  been  just  as  he  was  when  the  King 
had  finished  with  him.  They  all  swim  about  in  the 
water  without  a  bone  in  their  body,  without  any  fins 
or  any  tail,  or  any  legs.  Because  their  legs  are  all 
pounded  to  jelly  they  never  walk  out  on  the  land, 
but  swim  around  in  the  sea.  And  they  open  and 
shut  themselves  just  like  an  umbrella,  because  it  was 
an  umbrella  that  the  King  took  when  he  beat  the 
first  Jellyfish  all  to  fine  jelly  and  made  a  sure-enough 
Jellyfish  out  of  him. 


THE   STOEY   OF   BOB. 

"YTTE  called  him  Bob.  We  never  knew  his  real 
'  '  name.  That  had  been  left  in  the  jungles  of 
Borneo.  He  was  born  in  1 890,  a  prince  of  the  tribe 
of  Cercopithecus  which  inhabits  the  palm  forests  of 
the  South  Sea  Islands.  Stolen  from  his  parents  by  a 
South  Sea  trader,  he  was  brought  to  San  Francisco, 
exchanged  for  a  keg  of  beer,  and  found  his  way  at 
last  to  a  Kearny  Street  curiosity  shop. 

Not  long  after,  a  student  of  evolution  saw  him 
there,  ransomed  him  by  a  subscription  fi-om  his  fel- 
low-students, and  Bob  was  transfeiTed  to  a  new  home 
in  the  university  beside  the  Tall  Tree.  Here  he  was 
placed  in  the  custody  of  a  young  naturalist  from 
Japan.  Otaki  being  likewise  Asiatic  by  birth,  un- 
dei-stood  the  wants  and  feelings  of  Bob  better  than 
did  any  of  the  others  by  whom  he  was  surrounded. 

We  fii'st  knew  Bob  as  a  wild  and  suspicious  crea- 
ture, who  looked  at  all  who  came  near  him  with  fear 
or  hatred.     If  any  person  touched  him,  Bob  would 

208 


THE  STORY  OP   BOB.  209 

look  him  straight  in  the  eyes,  with  scowling  face  and 
lips  rolled  back,  every  muscle  tense  for  action  in  case 
of  any  injury  or  indignity.  Whenever  he  was  lifted 
from  the  ground,  all  these  expressions  would  be  in- 
tensified ;  but  he  never  ventured  to  bite  any  one  who 
seemed  beyond  his  size,  or  to  escape  from  any  one  he 
thought  able  to  hold  him.  Toward  women  he  showed 
from  the  first  great  aversion,  for  they  had  poked  him 
in  the  ribs  with  their  parasols  while  he  was  in  prison 
in  Kearny  Street.  Furthermore,  he  seemed  seriously 
to  disapprove  the  stamge  freedom  allowed  to  women 
in  our  country.  In  such  matters,  our  manners  and 
customs  are  very  different  from  those  which  prevail 
in  the  tribe  of  Cercopithecus  in  Borneo. 

After  a  time,  under  protest,  he  let  one  young 
woman  lead  him  about  by  his  chain,  and  refrained 
from  open  enmity ;  but  he  never  gave  her  either  trust 
or  affection.  Children  he  held  in  utter  abhorrence, 
for  it  was  their  delight  to  ridicule  him  and  to  vex  his 
dignity  with  sticks  and  clods  of  earth.  When  any  of 
them  came  near  him  he  would  jump  at  them,  hissing 
and  scolding,  and  often  only  the  strength  of  his  chain 
saved  them  from  injury. 

When  Bob  came  from  Kearny  Street  his  hair  was 
infested  with  the  small,  louselike  parasite  {Hcemato- 


210  THE  BOOK  OF  KNIGHT  AND  BARBARA. 

'pina  quadrumanus)  which  always  abounds  where 
those  of  his  race  are  gathered  together.  Bob  did  uot 
try  to  conceal  this  fact ;  he  made  it  the  joy  of  his  lei- 
sure. A  large  part  of  his  time  was  spent  in  searching 
his  arms  and  legs  in  quest  of  the  insect.  When  he 
found  or  pretended  to  find  one,  he  would  eat  it  with 
much  appearance  of  satisfaction,  keeping  up  all  the 
while  a  vigorous  smacking  of  the  lips.  A  young 
entomologist  became  interested  in  this,  and  sought  to 
make  for  himseK  a  collection  of  these  insects  from 
Bob's  hair.  But  while  he  made  his  explorations, 
putting  his  captures  in  a  small  vial.  Bob  conducted 
a  similar  search  among  the  hairs  on  his  friend's  hand. 
The  bystanders  laughed  heartily,  but  Bob  saw  noth- 
ing funny  about  the  affair.  If  one  could  judge  by 
his  movements  and  the  smacking  of  his  lips,  he  was 
more  successful  than  the  naturalist  himself.  But  all 
this  w^th  Bob  was  simply  an  excess  of  politeness. 
In  his  tribe  of  Cercopithecus  it  is  the  height  of  cour- 
tesy for  one  individual  to  go  over  the  head  and  shoul- 
ders of  his  friends,  taking  hold  of  hair  after  hair, 
drawing  them  through  his  fingers,  so  that  no  parasite 
can  escape.  If  a  stranger  in  any  way  earns  his  good 
will,  Bob  will  show  it  by  devoting  himself  to  this 
search  either  on  hand  or  coat  sleeve.     At  these  times 


THE  STORY   OF   BOB.  211 

Bob  is  tlie  perfection  of  courtesy.  He  pretends  to 
find  numberless  Hwmatopince  on  his  friend's  hands, 
even  though  you  can  see  with  your  own  eyes  that  he 
finds  nothing  at  all.  And  all  the  time  he  chuckles 
and  smacks  his  lips  as  though  each  discovery  were  an 
object  of  personal  satisfaction  to  him. 

Of  snakes,  large  or  small,  Bob  has  always  stood 
in  abject  terror.  If  he  is  held  firmly  and  the  snake 
is  placed  near  him,  he  looks  piteously  in  the  face  of 
his  keeper ;  and  sometimes,  more  in  sorrow  than  in 
anger,  he  will  bite  if  he  is  not  let  go.  At  one  time  a 
snake  in  a  paper  bag  was  shown  him.  When  the 
paper  bag  was  afterward  left  near  him,  he  would  fur- 
tively approach  and  open  it,  to  peep  a  moment  shiv- 
eringly  into  its  depths,  and  then  retreat  ignomini- 
ously,  only  to  approach  for  another  peep  when  he 
had  summoned  sufficient  courage. 

A  live  salamander  was  placed  on  the  table  by  his 
side.  This  he  looked  at  with  a  great  deal  of  interest, 
finally  taking  it  in  his  hands,  with  many  precautions. 
When  he  saw .  how  inert  it  was,  he  laid  it  down  and 
lost  all  interest  in  it. 

Toward  a  flat  skin  of  a  coyote  and  one  of  a  wild- 
cat, used  as  parlor  rugs.  Bob  showed  the  same  fear 
as  in  the  presence  of  the  snake.    If  one  brought  them 


212  THE  BOOK  OF  KNIGHT  AND  BARBARA. 

near  him  he  would  Jump  wildly  about  or  cower  in 
terror  behind  a  chair.  This  instinctive  fear  is  appar- 
ently an  inheritance  from  the  experience  of  his  fa- 
thers, whose  kingdom  was  in  the  land  where  tigers 
and  snakes  were  dominant  and  dangerous.  A  similar 
skin  without  hair  and  eyes  he  cared  nothing  for.  At 
one  time  he  climbed  on  the  back  of  a  chair  to  get 
away  fi-om  the  coyote  skin.  The  chair  was  over- 
turned by  his  efforts.  He  saw  at  once  that  when 
the  chau-  fell  it  ^^ould  carry  him  backward  to  the 
coyote,  so  he  let  go  of  the  chair  and,  seizing  his  chain, 
swung  himself  off  out  of  the  reach  of  the  coyote, 
while  the  chair  was  allowed  to  go  over.  This  was 
repeated  afterward  with  the  same  result. 

Bob  grew  very  expert  in  the  use  of  this  chain, 
which  he  came  at  last  to  regard  as  a  necessary-  part 
of  his  environment.  In  climbing  chairs  or  trees  he 
always  took  it  into  consideration.  He  never  learned 
to  untie  knots  in  it,  but  would  very  deftly  straighten 
it  whenever  it  became  tangled  or  kinked.  Some- 
times he  would  break  fastenings,  escaping  to  the  top 
of  the  house,  clanking  his  chain  as  he  went.  It  was 
not  easy  to  catch  him  then,  for  he  delighted  in  free- 
dom. At  such  times  he  would  manage  the  chain 
most  skillfully,  going  back  to  set  it  free  if  it  caught 


THE  STORY   OF   BOB.  213 

on  any  projection.  When  very  hungry,  however,  he 
would  come  down  to  the  ground  or  sit  patiently  out- 
side the  kitchen  window,  waiting  to  be  coaxed  and 
caught.  At  one  time  after  we  had  been  entreating 
him  for  an  hour,  he  came  down  fi-om  the  house  in  a 
rage  to  scare  away  some  boys  who  were  mocking  him 
from  below,  and  who  fled  in  terror  at  his  approach. 
When  loose  in  the  tall  grass,  Bob  would  walk  on  his 
hinder  limbs,  holding  his  head  high,  and  looking 
about  for  birds,  in  whom  he  seemed  to  take  much 
interest.  For  some  reason  their  calls  attracted  him. 
His  hands  meanwhile  were  held  with  drooping  wrists 
like  the  wrists  of  2:)ersons  afflicted  with  the  Grecian 
bend.  Toward  most  animals  and  toward  persons  he 
could  not  frighten  he  usually  affected  perfect  indif- 
ference, often  not  deigning  to  grant  them  even  a 
glance. 

Toward  horses  and  cows,  and  to  other  animals 
"  big  and  unpleasant "  to  him,  he  held  a  great  dislike. 
When  Willy,  the  saddle  horse,  came  near  him.  Bob 
would  crouch  like  an  angry  cat,  erecting  his  hair, 
humping  his  back,  and  scolding  vehemently.  When 
in  his  judgment  he  was  safely  out  of  Willy's  reach, 
he  would  advance  boldly  and  scold  loudly.  When 
he  thought  Willy  too  near,  he  became  as  small  and 


214  THE   BOOK  OP  KNIGHT  AND  BARBARA. 

inconspicuous  as  possible,  to  avoid  the  horse's  notice. 
At  one  time  he  was  placed  on  Willy's  back,  where 
he  went  into  spasms  of  fear.  When  taken  into  the 
house,  he  grew  bolder,  and,  climbing  on  the  back  of 
a  chair,  he  described  his  adventures  volubly  and  with 
many  gestures  to  his  friend  Otaki,  who  understood 
it  all. 

To  the  big  dog  Rover  he  also  had  strong  objec- 
tions. Rover  looked  down  on  Bob  with  tolerant 
contempt,  as  a  disagreeable  being,  not  to  be  shaken 
like  a  rat  because  possibly  human.  But  when  Bob 
would  strike  hira  in  the  face  with  the  flat  of  his  hand, 
Rover  would  snap  at  him,  barking  indignantly ;  but 
he  never  caught  him,  and  Bob  w^as  careful  to  keep 
out  of  his  reach.  His  discretion  could  be  counted  on 
to  get  the  better  of  his  courage.  With  the  little  ter- 
rier, Dandy,  Bob's  relations  were  often  friendly,  al- 
though there  was  very  little  mutual  trust.  At  one 
time  Dandy  was  deep  in  the  ivy  in  search  of  a  rat, 
while  Bob  had  also  entered  the  ivy  by  another  open- 
ing for  other  reasons.  They  met  in  the  dark  in  a 
rat-hole  through  the  ivy  leaves,  and  a  sharp  conflict 
ensued,  marked  by  much  scolding  on  the  one  part 
and  pulling  of  hair  and  barking  on  the  other.  When 
Dand}'^  had  dragged  Bob  to  the  light,  both  were  very 


THE   STORY  OF   BOB.  215 

much  surprised,  and  they  parted  with  mutual  apolo- 
gies and  much  shamefacedness. 

One  day  a  big  saucy  blue-jay  saw  Bob,  and,  after 
the  fashion  of  his  kind,  fluttered  up  to  him  and 
showed  his  contempt  by  screaming  "  Ja-a-ay  ! "  under 
Bob's  nose.  Bob  reached  out  one  hand  softly, 
caught  the  bird  by  his  tail,  and  then  pulled  out,  one 
by  one,  all  his  gay  feathers.  When  the  bird  was 
naked  Bob  went  to  work  and  soberly  ate  him,  and 
the  other  blue-jays  never  screamed  "Ja-a-ay"  at  him 
after  that. 

Being  offered  a  glass  of  milk.  Bob  looked  at  it 
for  a  moment,  then  took  the  glass  in  both  hands  and 
drank  from  it.  His  mouth  being  small,  much  of  the 
milk  was  spilled  on  the  floor.  Being  then  offered  a 
glass  partly  full,  he  handled  it  more  deftly,  seeming 
to  understand  how  to  use  it.  When  offered  a  pewi:er 
cup  with  a  handle,  he  took  it  in  both  hands  and 
drank  as  from  the  glass,  but,  noticing  the  handle,  he 
set  the  cup  down  and  raised  it  again  properly.  Then 
he  drank  from  it  as  a  child  of  any  other  race  would 
have  done.  He  soon  learned  to  drink  water  from 
bottles.  If  the  bottle  were  large,  he  would  use  one 
of  his  hands  to  hold  it,  guiding  it  to  his  mouth  by  his 
hinder  legs.      At  the  first  trial  he  understood  the 

15 


216 


THE  BOOK  OF  KNIGHT  AND  BARBARA. 


purpose  of  the  cork,  which  he  would  draw  with  his 
teeth.  Then  he  would  look  down  into  the  neck  of 
the  bottle  to  see  if  the  water  were  really  there  and 

no  deception  prac- 
ticed on  him.  He 
also  usually  shook 
the  bottle  before 
drinking,  apparent- 
ly a  custom  in  Bor- 
neo. Once  a  bottle 
of  carbonated  min- 
eral water  ("Napa 
soda ")  was  given 
him.  He  drew  the 
cork,  much  sur- 
prised at  the  explo- 
sion, and  the  character  of  the  water  caused  him  equal 
surpi-ise;  still  he  drained  the  bottle  and  was  appa- 
rently, pleased  with  it.  A  bottle  of  claret  being 
offered  him,  he  drank  eagerly  and  became  much 
exhilarated,  but  at  the  same  time  much  confused. 
After  this  he  always  declined  claret,  putting  the 
bottle  away  with  a  gesture  of  disapj^roval.  Of  water 
colored  by  fruit  juices  he  was  very  fond. 

Being  left  alone  in  a  student's  room,  he  experi- 


Indulgence. 


THE  STORY  OP  BOB. 


217 


mented  on  the  bottles  there.  He  drew  the  cork 
from  bottles  of  ink  and  of  bay  rum  ;  not  relishing  the 
contents  of  either,  he  poured  both  into  the  wash 
basin. 

When  he  was  offered  an  empty  egg-shell,  he 
raised  it  up  and  looked  into  the  crack  from  which 
the  contents  had  been  taken.  Then  he  would  use 
his  fingers  to  pull  the 
shell  apart,  licking  the 
inside,  but  apparent- 
ly disgusted  with  the 
small  amount  of  food 
it  contained. 

Being  shown  his  re- 
flection in  the  mirror, 
he  advanced  toward  it 
scowling,  but  soon  de- 
tecting the  sham,  he  lost 
all  interest  in  it.  A 
hand  glass  was  given 
him,  but  he  paid  very  lit- 
tle attention  to  his  reflec- 
tion in  it,  laying  it  down  and  turning  to  other  things. 

At  one  time  a  brood  of  chickens  became  mother- 
less  because   a  coyote  from  the  mountains  had   in- 


Eepentance. 


218 


THE  BOOK  OP  KNIGHT  AND  BARBARA. 


vaded  their  home.  One  little  white  chicken  came 
into  Bob's  hutch  and  Bob  treated  it  with  great 
kindness.  As  the  chicken 
grew  larger,  it  always  left 
the  roost  at  night  and 
curled  itself  up  on  the 
blanket  in  Bob's  arms. 
When  he  fed  in  the  morn- 
ing, if  the  chicken  were  in 
his  way  or  ventured  to 
touch  his  food,  he  would 
take  it  in  both  hands  and 
lay  it  softly  to  one  side 
with  the  greatest  serious- 
ness of  demeanor. 

The  life  of  Bob  was 
not  without  its  tender 
passages.  He  was  loved 
in  turn  by  the  vivacious 
Mimi  and  the  gentle  Na- 
nette. The  two  stood  in 
much  the  same  relation  as  the 

'' .  .  .  ladies  twain 
Who  loved  so  well  the  tough  old  dean." 

In  Borneo,  among  the  tribes  of  CercopitJiecus,  the 


Resolution. 


THE  STORY   OF   BOB.  219 

male  is  easily  the  lord  of  creation.  The  female  ex- 
pects to  be  crowded  aside  and  frequently  punished, 
and  takes  rude  treatment  as  a  matter  of  course.  A 
kind  expression  now  and  then,  an  occasional  hour 
devoted  to  hunting  HonmatopincE  in  her  hair,  or  even 
a  cessation  of  blows  and  bites,  and  she  is  thankful 
and  satisfied. 

Mimi  was  of  the  tribe  of  MacacuSj  gentle  in  man- 
ner, excessively  quick  of  foot,  impatient  of  restraint 
or  even  touch  from  any  hand  except  that  of  her 
chosen  lord  and  master.  She  had  large,  projecting 
gray  eyes — "  pop-eyes  "  her  rivals  might  have  called 
them — and  a  wrinkled  face  suggestive  of  an  age  she 
did  not  possess.  Her  face  readily  assumed  an  ex- 
pression of  most  impatient  contempt  if  any  one  not 
of  her  race  attempted  to  caress  her  or  to  take  any  lib- 
erty with  her.  Mimi  had  been  brought  as  a  child 
from  the  South  Sea  Islands,  and  had  grown  up  in  a 
Mayfield  beer-hall,  where  she  had  learned  to  drink 
beer  with  the  rest  of  them,  and  in  general  "knew  the 
world,"  as  most  of  us  who  live  outside  the  jungles  of 
Borneo  are  compelled  to  know  it. 

Mimi  pleased  Bob  from  the  first,  though  he  was 
careful  never  to  let  her  forget  her  proper  station.  If, 
for  example,  she  had  any  food  he  wanted,  or  if  others 


220  THE  BOOK  OF   KNIGHT  AND   BARBARA. 

showed  her  special  attention,  he  would  seize  her 
chain,  draw  her  up  to  him,  and  bite  her  forcibly  in 
the  neck,  which  is  the  time-honored  sign  of  domestic 
supremacy  in  Borneo.  At  this  she  would  squeal 
lustily,  but  she  never  offered  resistance  or  showed 
any  kind  of  resentment.  Masculine  supremacy  is 
acknowledged  in  the  tribe  of  Macacus  as  in  that  of 
Cercopiihecus.  Often  Bob  would  draw  Mimi  to  him 
to  bite  her  in  the  neck,  apparently  to  remind  her  of 
his  superiority.  At  night  they  slept  together  in 
the  hutch,  each  with  a  soft  arm  round  the  other's 
waist. 

Nanette,  who  came  later,  was  also  of  the  tribe  of 
Macacus,  but  she  was  of  a  different  branch  of  the 
great  family.  She  was  much  larger  than  Mimi, 
nearly  as  large  as  Bob  himself.  She  had  lived  in  a 
French  family,  where  she  had  acc^uired  her  name  and 
her  calm,  considerate  manner.  She  was  a  gentle 
blonde,  with  a  pensive,  averted  face,  as  though  the 
present  was  merely  an  object  of  toleration  with  hei*. 
Evidently  Nanette  had  had  a  history,  but  what  that 
history  was  no  one  now  can  tell.  Perhaps  there  was 
no  history,  and  her  sadly  patient  expression  came 
from  the  absence  of  one. 

Mimi  was  soon  very  jealous  of  Nanette,  but  with- 


THE  STORY  OF  BOB.  221 

out  good  reason ;  for  Bob  treated  Nanette  with  uni- 
form contempt,  pushing  her  about  and  biting  her  in 
the  neck  whenever  she  came  near  him.  In  this  Mimi 
would  assist,  often  seizing  Nanette's  chain  and  pull- 
ing her  about  till  she  was  brought  within  Bob's 
reach.  After  a  time  Mimi's  former  master  returned ; 
she  went  back  to  her  drinking  of  beer,  grimacing  at 
visitors,  and  Bob  and  this  histoiy  sees  her  no  more. 

Meanwhile  Nanette  and  Bob  were  left  together. 
He  remained  contemptuous  toward  her,  robbing  her 
of  her  food  and  treating  her  with  indignity.  Often, 
when  others  were  looking.  Bob  would  show  his  au- 
thority over  her  by  ostentatiously  drawing  up  her 
chain  and  nipping  her  in  the  neck;  but  at  other 
times,  when  no  one  was  watching,  he  would  relax  his 
dignity  and  the  two  would  lie  for  hours  in  the  sun- 
shine, each  picking  fleas  from  the  other's  hair. 
However  roughly  she  was  treated,  Nanette  never 
showed  resentment,  and  seemed  only  too  glad  to  be 
the  slave  of  her  royal  Bob. 

At  one  time  Bob  had  treated  Nanette  with  pecul- 
iar severity,  for  which  reason  Lady  Erica  gave  him  a 
good  beating.  Nanette,  the  gentle,  took  his  part, 
turned  on  the  lady,  and  would  have  severely  bitten 
her  had  she  not  been  taken  off.     For  two  months 


222  THE  BOOK  OP  KNIGHT  AND  BARBARA. 

after,  whenever  Lady  Erica  approached  Nanette,  she 
would  fly  into  a  passion,  scolding,  trying  to  bite,  and 
showing  every  sign  of  hate  possible  to  the  race  of 
Macacus.  But  Bob  had  only  contempt  for  feminine 
wrath  and  its  manifestations.  Whenever  Nanette 
made  any  demonstration  against  the  lady,  Bob  would 
seize  her  and  bite  her  in  the  neck  until  she  cried  for 
pain.  But  all  this  time  she  would  not  look  at  him, 
but  kept  her  wrathful  eyes  fixed  on  the  lady,  willing 
to  suffer  anything  rather  than  have  Bob's  feelings  hurt. 

Nanette  would  often  leap  into  the  lap  of  her 
keeper,  seeking  the  caresses  she  did  not  always  secure 
from  Bob.  This  she  would  do  with  the  manner  of 
a  lapdog  or  a  pampered  cat.  But  Bob  never  sought 
caresses.  He  was  always  earnest,  never  in  the  least 
playful  or  sentimental.  Any  new  proposition  he 
always  took  seriously.  He  expected  the  worst,  and 
scowled  and  showed  his  teeth  until  the  matter  was 
thoroughly  understood,  when  he  usually  became  in- 
different. 

One  day  the  children  vexed  him  overmuch,  and 
breaking  his  chain  he  came  out  among  them.  They 
fled  in  consternation,  all  but  the  younger  one,  who 
was  a  brave  little  Knight,  and  who  stood  his  ground, 
though  at  the  cost  of  a  serious  biting. 


THE  STORY  OF  BOB.  223 

And  thus  it  came  that  after  two  years  of  free- 
dom Bob  returned  to  the  curiosity  shop  in  Kearny 
Street — not  the  one  on  the  right  as  you  go  up  Pine 
Street,  but  the  other  one,  where  the  red-tailed  par- 
rots scold  and  swear,  and  among  whose  oaths  you 
may  hear  all  the  varied  languages  of  the  South  Sea 
Islands.  And  there  in  a  little  iron  cage  he  remains 
cramped  and  unhappy.  All  day  long  he  rolls  back 
his  sneering  lips,  shakes  the  cage  by  pulling  against 
the  bars,  and  swings  himself  to  and  fro,  trying  to 
overturn  the  cage  and  cast  it  on  the  floor.  And  here 
he  waits  till  his  ransom  is  paid  again.  Fifteen  dol- 
lars, I  believe,  is  the  sum  at  which  it  is  fixed.  Who- 
ever does  this  will  open  for  him  the  door  for  another 
series  of  adventures. 

And  in  fact,  I  found  to-day  that  some  one  has 
already  done  this  ;  for  passing  the  door  of  the  "  Mid- 
way Plaisance,"  a  dime  museum  on  Market  Street,  I 
heard  a  familiar  call.  It  was  Bob.  He  was  sitting 
on  a  divan  with  a  muscle-dancer  from  Cairo,  joyously 
scowling  and  surveying  with  grim  complacency  the 
sordid  attractions  of  the  dime  museum.  They  all  be- 
longed to  him,  and  he  was  happy,  for  he  would  have 
had  nothing  more  glorious  had  he  inherited  all  the 
treasures  of  the  Borneo  kinjidom  of  all  his  ancestors. 


FITZCLARENCE  AND   THE   BLUE  DANE. 

A  FTER  Bob  had  left  us,  there  wasn't  any  mon- 
-^^^  key  at  all  about  the  house  for  a  month.  Then 
Algernon  Fitzclarence  Macpherson  came  down  from 
the  city  of  San  Francisco.  He  had  come  over  from 
Southern  China  in  search  of  adventures,  and  had  got 
as  far  as  California.  His  real  name  was  Macacus, 
but  Macpherson  sounds  better  and  fits  better  with 
the  rest  of  his  name. 

He  had  a  red  nose  and  brown  whiskers,  but  the 
hair  on  the  top  of  his  head  was  black,  and  he  wore  it 
pompadour.  He  was  a  very  dignified  monkey  per- 
son, and  would  allow  no  familiarities,  but  at  the  same 
time  he  liked  to  understand  whatever  was  going  on. 

One  day  when  the  sun  was  very  hot  we  tied  him 
to  a  tree,  and  then  set  the  garden  sprinkler  to  work 
by  his  side.  It  went  whizzing  round  and  round, 
throwing  cold  drops  of  water  all  over  Fitzclarence 
and  making  him  feel  very  ticklish.  At  last  he 
climbed  upon  it  to  see  what  made  it  act  so,  and  then 

224 


FITZCLARENCE   AND   THE   BLUE   DANE.  225 

he  went  round  and  round  with  the  sprinkler.  Then 
he  climbed  down  again,  because  he  saw  that  this 
would  not  do.  Then  he  got  back  away  as  far  as  he 
could  and  ran  against  the  sprinkler  with  all  his 
might  and  pushed  it  over.  Then  it  could  not  whirl 
round  and  round  any  more,  and  he  felt  very  proud 
because  he  had  conquered  the  sprinkler.  And  after 
that  he  knew  just  what  to  do  every  time  when  the 
sprinkler  was  set  going  near  him.  But  he  never 
learned  how  to  turn  the  water  off  and  on. 

In  those  days  a  big  blue  dog  lived  at  the  Jazmin 
House.  He  was  the  kind  of  dog  they  called,  the 
Great  Blue  Dane,  and  so  we  named  him  Hamlet,  for 
some  one  said  that  Hamlet  was  a  blue  Dane  too.  He 
lived  in  the  bam  and  had  rooms  just  below  the 
apartments  of  Fitzclarence,  and  the  two  were  great 
friends.  Fitzclarence  liked  to  ride  on  Hamlet's  back, 
and  sometimes  he  would  bite  Hamlet's  ear  just  to 
hear  the  great  dog  growl.  And  when  Fitzclarence 
would  catch  a  chicken  and  pull  its  feathers  all  out, 
Hamlet  would  laugh  till  his  sides  would  shake. 

Sometimes  we  used  to  let  Hamlet  take  care  of 
Fitzclarence,  and  we  did  this  by  tying  Fitzclarence's 
chain  into  Hamlet's  collar  so  that  the  two  could  go 
off  together   to   play  whenever    they   would.      The 


226  THE  BOOK  OF  KNIGHT  AND  BARBARA. 

chain  would  make  sure  that  Hamlet  would  bring 
Fitzclarence  back  all  right. 

But  whenever  the  carriage  went  out  over  the 
hills  Hamlet  liked  to  go  along.  One  day  it  chanced 
that  he  and  Fitzclarence  were  at  play  together,  and 
did  not  notice  that  the  horses  were  harnessed  to  the 
carriage.  And  when  he  saw  us  driving  away,  Ham- 
let forgot  all  about  his  charge  and  everything  else, 
and  dashed  off  through  the  garden,  among  the  trees, 
and  then  down  the  road  after  the  caniage. 

And  Fitzclarence  came  after  him  because  he  had 
to.  First  he  stood  on  his  legs  and  tried  to  run  with 
the  dog.  Then  he  struck  into  a  rosebush  and 
went  through  it  without  stopping  for  the  thorns. 
Then  he  struck  an  oak  tree  and  saw  all  sorts  of , stars. 
Then  he  came  into  the  road  and  his  hair  was  full  of 
dust.  Then  he  reached  a  little  pond  of  water,  and 
he  was  dragged  through  it  like  a  wet  rat.  And 
when  they  overtook  the  carriage  he  had  gone  half 
a  mile.  But  some  one  who  saw  him  coming  stopped 
Hamlet  and  untied  Fitzclarence  and  fastened  him 
to  a  tree. 

Then  Hamlet  ran  away,  because  he  was  ashamed 
of  what  he  had  done  to  Fitzclarence.  It  was  hai'd 
to  tell  whether  he  was  a  monkey  or  a  mop. 


PITZCLARENCE   AND  THE   BLUE   DANE.  227 

And  when  I  came  up  to  him,  Fitzclarence  looked 
at  me  very  reproachfully,  as  much  as  to  say :  "  How- 
dare  you  be  so  careless  ! " 

Then  I  put  Fitzclarence  on  the  seat  of  the  bicycle, 
and  wheeled  him  home  all  the  way.  He  was  as  stem 
as  the  king  of  Spain,  and  I  felt  as  humble  beside  him 
as  if  I  had  been  dragged  through  the  mud  by  a  blue 
Dane  ogre  myself. 

And  after  that  Fitzclarence  would  never  be  tied 
to  Hamlet ;  and  he  would  never  joke  nor  play  with 
me,  but  fell  back  on  that  lofty  dignity  which  is 
so  becoming  to  owls  and  monkeys,  but  which  other 
people  do  not  know  how  to  put  on. 


OLD  SEA  CATCH  AND  THE  BED  LIGHT. 

OLD  Sea  Catch  was  at  liome  when  the  pirate  ship 
came  to  Zapalata.  So  he  sat  on  the  rocks  where 
he  lived,  and  roared  and  groaned.  For  Zapalata  is 
on  Medni  Island,  far  to  the  Northwest  in  the  edge  of 
the  Icy  Sea.  And  it  is  very  cold  at  Medni,  and  the 
green  waves  are  like  ice.  So  old  Sea  Catch  wore  his 
sealskin  ov^ercoat  all  summer  long,  and  all  winter  too. 
And  Matka,  his  wife,  had  a  sealskin  sacque  on,  and 
little  Kotik  wore  a  small  sealskin  jacket,  too,  and  it 
was  black,  just  like  his  father's  overcoat.  But  Mat- 
ka's  sealskin  sacque  was  gray  and  brown. 

And  because  Sea  Catch  and  all  his  family  wore 
sealskin  sacques,  the  pirate  ships  used  to  come  up  to 
Medni  to  steal  their  clothes  away  from  them.  There 
was  so  much  fog  and  storm,  for  Medni  is  one  of  the 
Storm  King's  own  islands,  that  the  pirates  could  come 
and  go  as  they  pleased.  People  could  not  keep  them 
away  even  though  the  cruiser  Yakut  followed  after 
them  night  and  day,  and  the  watchman  on  the  cliffs 

228 


OLD  SEA  CATCH  AND  THE  RED  LIGHT. 


229 


slept  with  his  hand  on  his  rifle.  And  the  pirates 
used  to  trouble  old  Sea  Catch  a  great  deal  too,  and 
kept  him  roaring  and  groaning  all  the  time,  while  the 
tears  ran  down  his  cheeks. 

One  night  when  the  fog  was  very  thick  so  that 
old  Sea  Catch  could  hardly  see  how  to  roar,  and  little 
Kotik  couldn't  find  his  way  down  to  the  beach,  one 


Sea  Catch. 


of  the  pirate  schooners  sailed  out  of  the  darkness  and 
cast  its  anchor  in  the  sea  close  to  Zapalata.  And  old 
Sea  Catch  roared  with  all  his  might  when  he  saw  the 
captain  coming  on  shore  in  his  canoe.  The  schooner 
was  called  Ked  Light,  but  that  was  not  her  real 
name,  because  she  was  a  pirate  schooner.     Pirates 


230 


THE  BOOK  OF  KNIGHT  AND   BARBARA. 


don't  have  any  real  name,  and  the  captain  did  not 
have  any  name  either — just  Pirate. 

So  Captain  Pirate  came  up  to  Sea  Catch  and 
asked  him  for  his  sealskin  overcoat,  and  Matka's 
sealskin  sacque  and  little  Kotik's  black  jacket. 

Then  Sea  Catch  shook  his  head  very  quickly  and 
roai'ed,  which  meant  that  he  couldn't  have  anything. 


The  Red  Light 

Then  the  captain  of  the  Red  Light  saw  all  the  bach- 
elor folks  sleeping  out  on  the  rocks,  each  one  with 
a  nice  clean  sealskin  coat,  which  kept  him  warm  and 
kept  the  rocks  from  hurting  him.  Then  he  asked 
old  Sea  Catch  if  these  bachelors  belonged  to  his 
family,  and  Sea  Catch  shook  his  head  and  growled, 
which  meant  that  they  did  not.     Then  the  captain 


OLD  SEA  CATCH   AND  THE  RED  LIGHT.  231 

asked  Sea  Catcli  if  tlie  bachelors  needed  sealskin 
coats  any  longer,  and  Sea  Catch  shook  his  head  three 
times  and  growled  very  loudly,  which  meant  that  he 
didn't  care. 

So  Captain  Pirate,  with  his  men,  went  out  on  the 
rocks  and  took  all  the  sealskin  coats  away  from  the 
bachelors.  Then  they  put  them  into  the  canoe  and 
went  back  to  the  Red  Light  which  was  waiting  for 
them  in  the  mist,  and  there  were  a  thousand  of  them 
in  all,  all  sealskin  coats  and  jackets,  and  they  rolled 
each  one  up  in  salt  and  tied  them  with  a  string; 
then  they  packed  them  in  a  big  drygoods  box,  which 
stood  on  the  deck  just  behind  the  mainmast. 

And  when  they  left  the  shore,  old  Sea  Catch 
roared  again  very  loudly,  and  little  Kotik  growled  as 
well  as  he  could  so  as  to  scare  the  pirates  away. 

And  while  they  were  roaring,  all  of  a  sudden  the 
great  fog  broke,  and  the  sun  who  hadn't  been  at 
Medni  for  six  weeks,  looked  right  in  on  them  to  see 
what  was  going  on. 

And  right  around  Palata  Point  the  steamer  Yakut 
was  sailing  straight  toward  the  Red  Light. 

So  the  pirate  captain  hoisted  his  sails  as  quietly  as 

he  could  and  started  away.     And  on  the  top  of  the 

mainmast  he  swung  out  the  flag  of  a  Russian  mer- 
le 


232  THE  BOOK  OF  KNIGHT  AND  BARBAKA. 

chantman,  with  its  bands  of  white  and  blue  and  red, 
so  that  the  Yakut  would  think  he  was  not  a  pirate, 
and  would  let  him  sail  away  to  his  home  at  San 
Francisco. 

But  the  Yakut  was  too  smart  for  that,  and  the 
big  steamer  put  out  her  flag  of  white  with  a  blue 
cross,  which  showed  that  she  was  a  Russian  man-of- 
war.  Then  she  bore  down  on  the  Ked  Light,  and  it 
didn't  take  long  for  the  Yakut  to  catch  her. 

And  old  Sea  Catch  sat  on  the  rocks  and  roared 
and  groaned  three  times  for  the  captain  of  the  Red 
Light.  And  then  he  shook  his  head,  which  meant 
that  it  was  wrong  to  be  a  pirate  and  to  steal  sealskin 
coats. 

So  the  Red  Light  had  to  coma  to  a  stop  and  took 
down  her  flag  of  white,  blue,  and  red,  which  didn't 
belong  to  her  at  all. 

Then  the  captain  of  the  Yakut  went  on  board  the 
Red  Light  and  found  the  box  full  of  sealskin  coats, 
each  one  rolled  in  salt  and  tied  up  with  a  string. 

So  he  took  them  all  and  put  them  in  big  canvas 
bags,  and  tied  them  up  with  a  rock  in  the  bottom  of 
each  bag.  Then  he  sunk  them  all  in  the  sea.  And 
there  they  are  all  now  at  the  bottom  of  the  Icy  Sea, 
just  off  the  southern  end  of  Medni  Island.     But  if 


OLD  SEA  CATCH   AND  THE  RED  LIGHT.  233 

you  go  there  you  won't  find  them,  because  the  water 
is  deep  and  green  and  cold,  and  there  is  so  much  fog 
you  won't  know  the  place  when  you  see  it. 

Then  the  captain  of  the  Yakut  fastened  a  long 
rope  to  the  Red  Light's  nose  and  hitched  her  on  be- 
hind, and  then  they  started  for  the  nearest  town, 
which  is  away  across  the  sea  of  Okhotsk,  and  its  name 
is  Vladivostok. 

And  when  they  got  to  Vladivostok  the  Yakut 
would  have  hauled  the  Red  Light  up  on  the  bank 
and  have  left  her  there  for  the  winds  and  the  waves 
to  batter  to  pieces,  just  as  the  Rush  hauled  out  the 
Onward  and  the  Thornton,  the  Carolina  and  the 
Angel  Dolly  on  the  Unalaska  sands  the  week  before. 

But  when  the  Yakut  was  sailing  away  dragging 
the  Red  Light  behind  her,  all  at  once  a  great  storm 
came  up.  And  the  fog  was  so  thick  that  you  could 
cut  it  with  a  knife,  and  so  dark  that  after  you  had 
cut  it  you  couldn't  have  found  the  place. 

Then  Captain  Pirate  took  out  an  ax  and  chopped 
the  long  rope  which  held  his  boat  to  the  Yakut. 
Then  he  put  up  all  the  sails  he  had,  and  the  Red 
Light  went  right'  off  the  other  way.  And  it  was  so 
dark  that  the  Yakut  could  not  find  the  Red  Light 
anywhere. 


234  THE  BOOK  OF  KNIGHT  AND  BARBARA. 

Then  the  Red  Light  started  for  Yokohama,  which 
is  the  name  of  the  queer  old  Japanese  city  where  the 
children's  toys  are  all  alive.  And  when  she  had 
sailed  two  days  the  fog  lifted  and  the  Yakut  caught 
sight  of  her  in  the  distance.  And  the  big  steamer 
ran  very  fast,  with  the  white  flag  and  the  blue  cross 
waving  on  her  topmast.  But  the  Red  Light  put  out 
the  British  Union  Jack,  all  blue  with  the  crosses  of 
white  and  red.  Then  she  sailed  as  fast  as  she  could, 
though  this  was  not  her  own  real  flag  either. 

Then  the  Yakut  fired  a  gun  at  her,  but  did  not 
hit  her,  and  just  as  she  was  going  to  fire  again  the 
Red  Light  came  into  the  harbor  of  Yokohama. 

And  there  lay  at  anchor  a  great  British  man-of- 
war,  and  her  name  was  Sea  L>og,  and  the  little  Red 
Light  slipped  in  behind  her  and  put  down  her  flag 
and  her  sails. 

And  when  the  Yakut  came  around  the  headland 
into  the  harbor,  all  she  saw  was  the  great  shij?  Sea 
Dog  with  the  Union-Jack  flag  on  every  mast  and  her 
big  guns  looking  straight  at  the  Yakut. 

So  the  Yakut  saluted  with  her  blue-cross  flag, 
which  meant  "Good  morning,"  just 'as  if  nothing  had 
happened.  Then  the  captain  of  the  Sea  Dog  fired  a 
gun,  which  meant  "  How  do  you  do  ? "    And  then  the 


OLD  SEA  CATCH  AND  THE  RED  LIGHT. 


235 


Yakut  waved  her  flag  again,  which  meant  "Good- 
by."  Then  the  Red  Light  slipped  out  from  behind 
the  great  ship  Sea  Dog,  and  the  captain  sailed  to 
Yokohama  city,  where  he  went  ashore  and  bought 
some  Japanese  candy  and  some  firecrackers. 

And  all  this  time  old  Sea  Catch  sat  on  his  rocks 
at  Zapalata,  and  roared  because  the  pirate  stole  the 
bachelors'  sealskin  coats  and  lost  them  in  the  sea. 
And  if  you  ever  go  through  the  Storm  King's  gate 
into  the  Icy  Sea,  inquire  the  way  to  Zapalata,  and 
you  will  see  old  Sea  Catch  sitting  there  yet. 

Then  he  will  roar  and  shake  his  head,  which 
means  that  this  is  a  true  story,  and  the  tears  will  roll 
down  his  cheeks ;  and  this  is  a  warning  to  all  pirates. 
But  when  you  hear  the  Yakut  whistle  you  need  not 
be  afraid,  if  you  have  not  stolen  any  sealskin  sacques. 


The  Eed  Light. 


CHLOE  LtSLEY 


THE  BABY  SEAL. 


"  r^  MATKA,"  said  I,  "  may  I  look  at  your  baby 
^-^  seal  ? "  "  Yes,  you  may,"  she  said,  "  but  1  must 
go  and  wash  my  face."  Then  Kotik,  the  baby  seal, 
said :  "  I  do  not  like  you ;  you  go  away  and  let  me 
alone.  If  you  do  not  go  I  will  bite  you,  and  I  will 
tell  Atagh,  my  father,  and  he  will  snort  at  you  and 
bite  you,  too.     Let  me  alone,"  said  Kotik. 

So  Matka  went  off  to  wash  her  face  in  the  sea. 
But  Atagh  did  not  like  to  have  her  go,  and  he 
groaned  over  the  troubles  of  married  life  so  that  one 
could  hear  him  a  mile  away.  And  he  leaned  back  in 
his  seat  when  he  groaned,  and  opened  his  mouth 
wide,  and  threw  his  head  back  and  groaned  again. 

236 


THE  BABY  SEAL.  237 

But  Matka  tried  to  get  past  him  to  go  to  wash  her 
face.  And  Atagh  said,  "Matka,  you  shall  not  go." 
So  he  seized  her  by  the  neck  and  flung  her  over  his 
shoulder  back  into  her  place.  "  See  me,"  he  said,  "  I 
never  wash  my  face.  I  have  stayed  right  here  at  home 
two  w  hole  months  hard  at  work,  and  I  have  never 
once  indulged  in  frivolity."  Then  Atagh  saw  me, 
and  he  groaned  again.  "  Go  away,"  he  said.  "  Don't 
you  see  how  hard  it  is  to  manage  a  family,  and  visi- 
tors make  it  all  the  harder."  And  Kotik  groaned  too 
in  his  little,  high-pitched  voice:  "Don't  you  see  how 
hard  it  is  to  have  you  standing  around  ?  It  is  all  that 
we  can  do  to  manage  Matka,  anyhow." 

Then  Polosikatch,  Matka's  brother,  who  was  sit- 
ting alone  on  a  rock,  began  to  laugh.  But  Atagh 
snorted  at  him,  and  he  ran  away  as  fast  as  his  pudgy 
feet  could  carry  him,  and  on  his  way  he  tumbled  over 
little  Holustiak,  and  they  both  bumped  their  noses 
against  the  rock  and  had  to  run  down  to  the  sea  to 
wash  their  faces. 

And  Matka,  who  waited  her  time,  sat  quite  still 
and  craned  her  neck,  looking  at  me  all  the  while 
with  sleepy,  curious  eyes, 

"  Do  go  away,"  said  Atagh.  "  Don't  you  see  what 
heavy  responsibilities  I  have  ? "     Then  he  began  to 


238 


THE  BOOK  OP  KNIGHT  AND  BARBARA. 


pant ;  for  he  was  stout  and  scant  of  breath,  and  he 
groaned  again  when  he  thought  of  all  the  responsi- 
bilities of  life. 

And  Kotik  climbed  on  a  stone  and  began  to  cry. 
But  no  one  took  any  notice  of  him,  so  he  wiped 
._^  his  eyes  with  his 

'^^^v^r-srT^N^-v  fl^tj  brown  hands 

and  went  off  to 
play  with  the 
Sivutch's  little 
boys.  But  the 
Sivutch  babies 
woufd  not  play 
with  him.  "  We 
are  big,"  they 
said,  "  but  we 
don't  know  anything.  Go  oif  and  play  with  some 
one  else.  We  are  going  to  learn  to  swim  to-morrow." 
And  they  opened  their  mouths  very  wide  and  cried 
as  loud  as  they  could.  And  Kotik  saw  a  pod  of 
little  black  seal  pups,  just  like  himself,  crawling  up 
a  flat  rock  and  sliding  back  every  time  they  got  half 
way  up. 

Then  he  went  up  to  climb  and  slide,  and  for  all  I 
know  he  is  climbing  and  sliding  yet. 


Matka. 


THE  LITTLE   BLUE  FOX. 


ONCE  there  was  a  little  blue  fox  and  his  name 
was  Eichkao,  and  he  was  a  thief.  So  he  built 
his  house  do\\ni  deep  among  the  rocks  under  the  moss 
on  the  Mist  Island,  and  his  little  fox  children  used 
to  stay  down  among  the  rocks.      There  they  would 


The  little  blue  thief. 


gurgle,  gurgle,  gurgle,  whenever  they  heard  anybody 
walking  over  their  heads.  Eichkao  and  his  fox  wife 
used  to  run  all  around  over  the  rocks  to  find  some- 
thing for  them  to  eat,  and  whenever  he  saw  anybody 


240 


THE  BOOK  OP  KNIGHT  AND  BARBARA. 


coming  lie  would  go  clin-n-n-g,  cling-g-g,  and  his  voice 
was  higli  and  sharp,  just  like  the  voice  of  a  buzz  saw. 
One  day  he  walked  out  on  the  rocks  over  the 
water  and  began  to  talk  to  the  black  sea-parrot, 
whose  name  is  Epatka,  and  who  sits  erect  on  a  lazily 
built  nest  with  one  egg  in  it,  and  wears  a  great 
big  bill  made  of  red  sealing  wax.  He  has  a  long, 
white  (^uill  pen  stuck  over  each 
'  \  ear,  and  over  his  face  is  a  white 
mask,  so  that  nobody  can  know 
/  what  kind  of  a  face  he  has, 
and  all  you  can  see  behind 
the  mask  is  a  pair  of  little, 
foolish,  twinkling,  white, 
glass  eyes.  What  the 
two  said  to  each  other 
I  don't  know,  but  they  did 
not  talk  very  long ;  for  in  a 
few  minutes,  when  I  came 
back  to  his  house  among  the 
rocks,  Eichkao  was  out  of 
sight,  and  there  lay  out  on  the  bank  a  bill  made  of 
red  sealing  wax,  a  white  mask,  and  two  little  white 
quill  pens.  There  were  a  few  bones  and  claws  and 
some  feathers,  but  they  did  not  seem  to  belong  to 


Epatka,  the  sea-parrot. 


THE  LITTLE  BLUE  FOX.  24:1 

anything  in  particular,   and  the  little   foxes  in   the 
rocks  went  gurgle,  gurgle,  gurgle. 

One  day  I  lay  down  on  the  moss  out  by  the  old 
fox  walk  on  the  Mist  Island,  and  Eichkao  saw  me 
there,  and  thought  I  was  some  new  kind  of  walrus, 
*  which  might  be  good  to  eat  and  would  feed  all  the 
little  foxes  for  a  month.  So  he  ran  around  me  in  a 
circle,  and  then  he  ran  round  again,  then  again  and 
again,  always  making  the  circle  smaller,  till  finally 
the  circle  was  so  small  that  I  could  reach  him  with 
my  hand.  As  he  went  around  and  around,  all  the 
time  he  looked  at  me  with  his  cold,  gray,  selfish  eye, 
and  not  one  of  all  the  beasts  has  an  eye  so  cruel-cold 
as  his.  When  he  thought  that  he  was  near  enough 
he  gave  a  snap  with  his  jaws  and  tried  to  bite  out 
a  morsel  to  take  home  to  the  little  foxes,  but  all  I 
offered  him  was  a  piece  of  rubber  boot.  And  when 
I  turned  around  to  look  at  him  he  was  running  away 
as  fast  as  he  could,  calling  clin-n-g-g,  clin-n-g,  clin-n-g 
like  a  scared  buzz  saw  all  the  time  as  he  went  out  of 
sight.  And  I  think  that  he  is  running  yet,  and  the 
little  foxes  still  go  gurgle,  gurgle,  gurgle,  under  the 
rocks. 


SE:SrOR  ALGATRAZ. 


"T  TE  was  just  a  bird  when  he  was  bom,  and  a  very 
-*— L  ugly  bird  at  that.  For  he  had  big  splay-feet 
with  all  the  toes  turned  forward  and  joined  together 
in  one  broad  web,  and  his  wings  were  thick  and 


clumsy,  and  underneath  his  long  bill  there  was  a  big 
red  sac  that  he  could  fill  with  fishes,  and  when  it 

242 


SENOR  ALCATRAZ.  243 

was  full  he  could  hardly  walk  or  fly,  so  large  was 
the  sac  and  so  great  was  his  appetite. 

But  he  kept  the  sac  well  filled,  and  he  emptied 
it  out  every  day  into  his  stomach,  and  so  he  grew 
very  soon  to  be  a  large  bird,  as  big  as  a  turkey, 
though  not  as  fat,  and  each  day  uglier  than  ever. 

But  one  morning  when  he  was  walking  out  on 
the  sand  flat  of  the  Astillero  at  Mazatlan,  Mexico, 
where  he  lived,  he  saw  a  big  fish  which  had  been  left 
by  the  falling  tide  in  a  little  pool  of  water.  It  was 
a  blue-colored  fish  with  a  big,  bony  head,  and  no 
scales,  and  a  sleek,  slippery  skin.  He  did  not  know 
that  it  was  a  Bagre,  but  thought  that  all  fishes  were 
good  to  eat,  so  he  opened  his  mouth  and  slipped 
the  fish,  tail  first,  down  into  his  pouch.  It  went  all 
right  for  a  while,  but  when  the  fish  woke  up  and 
knew  he  was  being  swallowed,  he  straightened  out 
both  of  his  arms,  and  there  he  was.  For  the  Bagre 
is  a  kind  of  catfish,  and  each  arm  is  a  long,  stiff, 
sharp  bone,  or  spine,  with  a  saw  edge  the  whole 
length  of  it.  And  all  the  Bagre  has  to  do  is  just  to 
put  this  arm  out  straight  and  twist  it  at  the  shoulder 
and  then  it  is  set,  and  no  animal  can  bend  or  break 
it.  And  it  pierced  right  through  the  skin  of  the 
bird's  sac,  and  the  bird  could  not  swallow  it,  nor 


244  THE   BOOK  OP  KNIGHT  AND  BARBARA. 

make  it  go  up  nor  down,  and  the  Bagre  held  on  tight 
for  he  knew  that  if  he  let  go  once  he  would  be  swal- 
lowed, and  that  would  be  the  last  of  him. 

So  the  bird  tried  eveiything  he  could  think  of, 
and  the  fish  held  on,  and  they  kept  it  up  all  day.  In 
the  afternoon  a  little  boy  came  out  on  the  sands. 
His  name  was  Inocente,  and  he  was  the  son  of 
Ygnacio,  the  fisherman  of  Mazatlan.  And  Inocente 
took  a  club  of  mangrove  and  ran  up  to  the  struggling 
bird,  and  struck  it  on  the  wing  with  the  club.  The 
blow  broke  the  wing  and  the  bird  lay  down  to  die, 
for  with  a  broken  wing  and  a  fish  that  would  not 
go  up  nor  down,  there  was  no  hope  for  him. 

When  Inocente  saw  what  kind  of  a  fish  it  was, 
he  knew  just  what  to  do.  He  reached  down  into 
the  bird's  sac,  and  took  hold  of  the  fish's  spine. 
He  gave  each  bone  a  twist  so  that  it  rolled  over  in  its 
socket,  the  upper  part  toward  the  fish's  head,  and 
then  they  were  not  stiff  any  more,  but  lay  flat  against 
the  side  of  the  fish,  just  as  they  ought  to  lie.  Then 
the  fish  knew  that  it  had  found  a  master  and  lay 
perfectly  still.  So  the  bird  gave  a  great  gulp  and 
out  the  Bagre  went  on  the  sand,  and  when  the  tide 
came  up  it  swam  away,  and  took  care  never  to  go 
again  where  a  bird  could  get  hold  of  it.     And  the 


SEHOR  ALCATRAZ.  245 

bird  with  the  broken  wing  had  learned  something 
about  fishes  too.  But  it  could  not  fly  away,  so  it 
waited  to  see  what  the  boy  was  going  to  do. 

The  boy  took  the  bird  into  his  boat  and  brought 
him  home.  And  old  Ygnacio  put  a  splint  on  his 
wing  and  covered  it  with  salve,  and  by  and  by  it 
healed.  But  the  bone  was  set  crooked  and  the  bird 
could  not  fly,  so  the  boys  called  the  bird  Senor  Al- 
catraz,  which  is  the  Spanish  for  Air.  Pelican,  and 
Senor  Alcatraz  and  all  the  boys  and  dogs  and  goats 
became  good  friends,  and  all  ran  about  on  the  streets 
together.  And  when  the  boys  would  shout  and  the 
dogs  bark,  all  Senor  Alcatraz  could  do  was  to  squawk 
and  hiss  and  open  his  big  mouth  wide  and  show  the 
inside  of  his  red  fish-sac. 

And  when  the  boys  would  go  fishing  on  the 
wharf  Alcatraz  would  go  too,  and  he  would  stow 
away  the  fishes  in  his  pouch  just  as  fast  as  the 
boys  would  catch  them.  But  if  they  caught  a  Bagre- 
fish,  he  would  turn  his  head  the  other  way  and  then 
run  away  home  just  as  fast  as  he  could. 

And  when  the  men  drew  the  net  on  the  beach, 
Alcatraz  would  splash  around  inside  the  net,  catch- 
ing whatever  he  could,  and  having  lots  of  fun  in 
his  clumsy  pelican  fashion.    Tlien  he  would  run  along 


246  THE  BOOK  OF  KNIGHT  AND   BARBARA. 

the  street  with  the  boys,  squawking  and  flapping  his 
wings  and  thinking  that  he  was  just  like  them. 
And  if  you  ever  go  to  Mazatlan,  ask  for  Dr.  George 
Warren  Rogers,  and  he  will  show  you  the  way  to 
Ygnacio's  cabin  on  the  street  they  call  Libertad. 
And  there  in  the  front  yard,  in  a  general  scramble 
of  dogs,  goats,  and  little  Indian  boys,  you  will  see 
Senor  Alcatraz  romping  and  squabbling  like  the  best 
of  them.  And  you  will  know  which  he  is  by  the 
broken  wing  and  the  red  sac  under  his  throat. 
But  if  you  say  Bagre  to  him,  he  will  run  under 
the  doorstep,  and  hide  his  face  till  you  go  away. 


/ 
HOW  THE   COMMA:ffDER  SAILED. 

( With  acknowledgments  to  Peter  Lauridsen.) 

' '  Through  fog  to  fog,  by  luck  and  log, 
Sail  ye  as  Bering  sailed." — Kipling. 

ONCE  there  was  a  great  sea  captain.  He  was 
bom  in  Jutland  in  1681,  and  his  name  was 
Vitus  Bering.  But  when  he  went  away  from  Den- 
mark and  became  a  commander  in  the  Russian  navy 
they  called  him  Ivan  Ivanovich  Bering,  for  that  was 
easier  for  the  Russians  to  say.  Captain  Bering  was  a 
man  of  great  stature,  and  greater  heart,  strong,  brave, 
and  patient,  and  so  the  Russians  chose  him  to  lead 
the  gigantic  work  of  the  exploration  of  Siberia  and 
North  America. 

Thus  it  chanced  that  in  the  spring  of  1741  Vitus 
Bering  found  himself  in  the  little  village  of  Petro- 
paulski — the  harbor  of  Peter  and  Paul — which  is 
the  capital  of  the  vast  uninhabitable  region  of  moss, 
volcanoes,  mosquitoes,  and  mountain  torrents,  they 
call  Kamtchatka. 

ir  247 


248  THE   BOOK  OF  KNIGHT  AND  BARBARA. 

And  from  the  village  of  Peter  and  Paul  Bering 
sailed  forth  on  his  little  ship,  which  he  called  the 
"  Su  Petr,"  to  explore  the  Icy  Sea  and  to  find  North 
America  and  to  learn  how  to  reach  it  fiom  Kam- 
tchatka  There  were  seventy-seven  men  all  told  on 
board  the  Su  Petr,  or  St.  Peter,  and  one  of  them  was 
George  Wilhelm  Steller,  clear-headed,  warm-hearted, 
and  imperious,  the  naturalist  from  Halle,  born  at 
Winsheim  in  Franconia  in  1709,  who  has  told  the 
story  of  the  voyage. 

First  they  sailed  for  Gamaland,  a  great  island 
which  on  the  Russian  maps  of  that  day  lay  in  the 
ocean  to  the  southeast  of  Kamtchatka.  But  when  the 
St.  Peter  came  to  where  Gamaland  was,  they  saw 
"  only  sea  and  sky,"  a  few  wandering  birds,  and  no 
land  at  all.  There  never  was  any  Gamaland ;  but 
Bering  did  not  know  this,  so  he  was  surprised  to  find 
no  land  nearer  than  the  bottom  of  the  sea. 

The  east  wind  blew  and  the  great  fogs  hid  the 
sun  and  stai-s,  but  still  Bering  sailed  on.  Away  over 
the  sea  where  Gamaland  was  not,  away  to  the  east- 
ward, on  and  on,  till  at  last  they  saw  before  them  a 
great  belt  of  land.  The  coast  was  high  and  jagged, 
covered  with  snow  in  July,  lined  with  green,  moss- 
grown  islands,  between  which  the  sea  swept  in  swift 


HOW  THE  COMMANDER  SAILED.  249 

cuireiits.  Over  the  scrubby  forests  of  stunted  fir  a 
snow-capped  mountain  towered  so  high  that  they 
could  see  it  seventy  miles  away.  "  I  do  not  remem- 
ber," Steller  wrote,  "  of  having  seen  a  higher  moun- 
tain in  all  Siberia  and  Kamtchatka."  And  he  was 
right,  for  there  is  none  other  so  high  in  all  the  Rus- 
sian dominions.  As  it  was  the  day  of  St.  Elias,  they 
named  the  mountain  for  the  saint,  and  the  bay  and 
the  cape  and  the  island — everything  they  saw — was 
named  for  St.  Elias.  And  they  are  named  for  St. 
Elias  to  this  day,  all  but  the  island  which  is  called 
Kayak.  They  found  no  inhabitants  in  St.  Elias- 
land.  The  people  had  all  run  away  in  fear  at  the 
sight  of  the  ship  and  the  white  men.  But  they  found 
a  house  of  timber  with  a  fireplace,  a  bark  basket,  a 
wooden  spade,  some  mussel-shells,  and  a  whetstone, 
used  to  sharpen  copper  knives.  Besides  these  articles 
they  found  in  an  earth  hut  "  some  smoked  fish,  a 
broken  arrow,  and  the  remains  of  a  fire."  Some  of 
these  things  they  took  away  with  them.  So  to  make 
everything  fair,  Bering  left  in  the  house  "an  iron 
kettle,  a  pound  of  tobacco,  a  Chinese  pipe,  and  a 
piece  of  silk  cloth."  But  no  one  was  there  when  the 
people  returned  to  see  what  use  they  made  of  these 
unexpected  presents. 


250  THE  BOOK  OF  KNIGHT  AND  BARBAEA. 

They  did  not  stay  long  about  the  Bay  of  St. 
Elias.  Bering  knew  that  the  short  summer  was  far 
spent,  and  that  if  they  were  to  learn  anything  of  the 
coast  they  must  sail  rapidly.  •  With  their  few  pro- 
visions and  their  small  ship  they  could  not  spend  the 
winter  in  this  rough  country.  Many  men  have 
blamed  him  for  going  away  so  soon.  Whether 
Bering  did  right  it  is  not  for  us  to  say.  We  know 
Steller's  opinion,  but  Bering's  we  have  not  heard. 
Steller  said :  "  The  only  reason  for  leaving  was  stupid 
obstinacy,  fear  of  a  handful  of  natives,  and  pusil- 
lanimous homesickness.  For  ten  years  Bering  had 
equipped  himself  for  this  great  enterprise ;  the  explo- 
ration lasted  ten  hours."  "  We  have  gone  over  to 
the  New  World,"  he  said,  "  simply  to  bring  American 
water  to  Asia." 

But  however  this  may  be,  Bering  had  none  too 
much  time  for  his  return  to  Kamtchatka.  Half  his 
crew  was  sick  already,  and  the  rest  were  none  too 
strong.  Those  who  would  stay  here  longer,  Bering 
said,  forget  "  how  far  we  are  from  home  and  what 
may  yet  befall  us."  So  the  St.  Peter  sailed  home- 
ward on  the  ^vings  of  a  southeast  gale.  In  the  mist 
and  fog  the  coast  was  invisible,  though  the  soundings 
showed  that  land  was  not  far  away.     Islands  they 


HOW  THE  COMMANDER  SAILED.  251 

sighted  from  time  to  time,  inhospitable  headlands, 
green  at  the  top  and  black  on  the  sides,  where  the 
great  surf  broke  before  the  constant  gales.  They 
sighted  the  high  point  of  Marmot  Island  ;  then  sailed 
around  the  great  island  of  Kadiak.  They  narrowly 
escaped  shipwreck  on  an  island  called  The  Foggy 
One — but  every  island  is  foggy  in  those  wild  storm- 
washed  seas. 

From  time  to  time  they  saw  the  tall,  snow-capped 
volcanoes  of  the  mainland — Pavlof  and  Shishaldin 
and  Progromnia,  and  all  the  rest  of  them.  They 
passed  close  behind  the  seven  high  rocks  we  call  to- 
day the  Semidi.  And  whenever  the  sun  shone  for  a 
day  the  sea  grew  rougher  than  ever,  for  in  the  Icy 
Seas  a  break  in  the  clouds  is  the  signal  for  a  new 
storm. 

Salted  meats  and  hard  biscuit  without  change  of 
diet  brought  on  the  disease  called  scurvy.  This 
comes  when  men  eat  too  much  salt  without  fruit  or 
vegetables,  and  it  shows  itseK  in  loosened  teeth, 
which  fall  out  of  the  shrunken  gums.  Aifairs  grew 
worse  and  worse.  Berincr  and  more  than  half  of  his 
men  were  sick,  and  when  they  came  to  thirteen  rag- 
ged, barren  islands  which  rise  above  the  surf  in  the 
thick  mist,  they  landed  there  and  earned  the  sick 


252  THE  BOOK  OF  KNIGHT  AND  BARBARA. 

ones  ashore.  One  of  tlie  sailora  named  Shumdgin 
died  here,  and  so  the  islands  are  called  Shumdgin  to 
this  day. 

While  the  men  searched  for  fresh  water  on  these 
islands,  Steller  looked  everywhere  for  roots  and  ber- 
ries with  which  to  heal  the  men  sick  with  scurvy. 
The  "molino"  berry,  the  most  delicious  in  all  the 
world,  grows  on  these  islands.  It  is  a  sort  of  rasp- 
berry, very  large,  amber-colored,  juicy,  and  with  a 
rich  wild  flavor  that  no  raspberry  of  the  South  can 
yield.  Bering  was  wonderfully  helped  by  the  berries, 
and  might  have  recovered  had  they  been  able  to  stay 
on  shore  long  enough  to  drive  away  the  scurvy.  The 
medicine  chest  of  the  ship,  it  was  said,  contained 
"  plasters  and  salves  for  half  an  army,"  but  no  reme- 
dies for  men  who  were  hurt  inwardly  by  the  poor 
salt  food. 

At  the  Shumdgin  Islands  the  sailors  filled  their 
water  casks,  but  they  took  water  from  a  pond  into 
which  the  surf  had  broken,  and  when  they  came  to 
drink  it  the  salt  made  the  scurvy  worse  than  ever. 
One  of  their  boats  was  wrecked  as  they  went  on,  and 
they  had  trouble  with  the  Aleut  people  on  the  shores. 
Still  they  sailed  on,  with  the  east  wind  behind  and 
the  thick  cloud-rack  overhead. 


HOW  THE  COMMANDER  SAILED.  253 

Then  the  wind  blew  from  the  west  instead,  and 
from  time  to  time  it  rose  to  a  hurricane.  "  I  know 
of  no  harder,  more  fatiguing  life,"  wrote  one  of  Be- 
ring's officers,  "  than  to  sail  an  unknown  sea."  And 
of  all  the  seas  in  the  world  none  is  rougher  than  the 
one  the  St.  Peter  sailed,  and  none  has  such  a  wilder- 
ness of  inhospitable  islands  to  mark  its  boundaries. 
When  Bering's  men  thought  they  were  halfway 
home  they  saw  land  to  the  north  of  them,  still  an- 
other wild,  inhospitable  cliff,  topped  by  a  snowy  vol- 
cano. They  called  the  island  St.  Johannes,  but 
its  real  name  is  Atka,  and  there  are  many  more  such 
before  one  comes  to  the  end  of  the  island  chain,  where 
the  far  west  joins  "the  unmitigated  east."  Still 
they  sailed  against  the  west  wind,  which  Steller  said 
"  seemed  to  issue  from  a  flue,  with  such  a  whistling, 
roaring,  and  rumbling  that  we  expected  every  mo- 
ment to  lose  mast  and  rudder  or  to  see  the  ship 
crushed  between  the  breakers.  The  dashing  of  the 
heavy  sea  against  the  vessel  sounded  like  cannon." 
The  sailors  could  not  stand  erect  on  the  ship.  They 
could  not  cook.  The  few  who  were  well  remained  so 
because  they  did  not  dare  to  get  sick.  All  lost 
"  their  firmness  of  purpose ;  their  courage  became 
unsteady  as  their  teeth."     Still  they  sailed  on.     It 


254  THE  BOOK  OF  KNIGHT  AND  BARBAKA. 

was  as  easy  to  do  that  as  to  return.  Still  another 
snow-topped  island,  Amchitka,  came  in  view  to  the 
noi*th,  again  to  their  great  surprise,  for  they  thought 
they  were  in  the  open  sea.  They  knew  nothing  of 
the  long  line  of  Aleutian  volcanoes  which  pass  in  a 
great  bow  from  Alaska  across  to  Kamtchatka.  They 
sailed  past  Attn,  the  last  of  the  Aleutian  Islands. 
After  a  time  they  came  to  a  long  steep  coast  running 
north  and  south,  which  they  took  for  Kamtchatka. 
Every  one  was  overjoyed.  Bering  crawled  from  his 
bed  to  the  deck,  revived  by  the  sight  of  what  seemed 
to  be  friendly  land,  and  in  such  fashion  as  they  could 
and  with  such  beverages  as  were  left,  they  celebrated 
their  "  happy  return.'' 

But  though  the  land  they  found  was  very  differ- 
ent from  the  Aleutian  Islands,  and  bore  no  volcano 
at  its  summit,  they  could  not  recognize  it,  nor  did 
they  find  it  hospitable.  Medni  Island  is  a  narrow 
backbone  of  rock,  shaped  like  a  cross-cut  saw,  with. 
wild,  hollowed-out,  storm-beaten  cliffs  and  great  reefs, 
over  which  the  surf  breaks  from  the  deep  green 
waves.  There  were  no  inhabitants,  no  harboi-s,  no 
landing  places,  and  the  winds  came  do^vn  in  T\dld 
gusts,  or  "willie  waughs"  from  the  snow-covered 
craggy  heights.     A   storm  carried  away  their  main- 


HOW  THE  COMMANDER  SAILED.  255 

sail.  As  they  drifted  along  to  tlie  northward  the 
land  came  to  an  end  in  a  cluster  of  jagged  rocks.  So 
this  could  not  be  Kamtchatka.  Their  joy  gave  way 
to  direst  distress. 

The  sailors  broke  out  in  mutiny.  Nobody  cared 
for  the  ship.  It  drifted  on  to  the  west  with  the 
gentle  wind  beating  against  a  little  sail  at  its  fore- 
mast, but  the  St.  Peter  had  no  longer  either  helmsman 
or  commander. 

Soon  another  island  loomed  up  before  them,  a 
shore  of  great  flat-topped  mountains,  ending  in  huge, 
black,  vertical  cliffs  at  the  sea.  In  a  clear  night  they 
came  to  anchor  in  a  little  bay  to  the  north  of  a  black 
promontory,  now  called  Tolstoi  Mys — the  thick  cape. 
In  the  great  surf  "  the  ship  Avas  tossed  like  a  ball," 
the  cable  of  their  anchor  snapped,  and  the  vessel 
came  near  being  crushed  on  the  jagged  rocks  of  the 
shore. 

In  the  morning  they  landed  in  the  little  sandy 
bay  north  of  Tolstoi,  and  set  out  to  search  for  inhab- 
itants. They  found  none,  for  Bering's  men  were  the 
first  who  ever  set  foot  on  the  twin  Stonn  Islands. 
The  little  bay  was  surrounded  by  high,  craggy  steeps, 
without  trees,  overgrown  by  dense  moss,  and  cut  by 
swift  brooks.     The  sailors,  under  Steller's  direction. 


256  THE  BOOK  OP  KNIGHT  AND   BARBARA. 

built  a  house  in  the  sand,  and  covered  it  with  a  roof 
of  driftwood  and  turf,  and  made  its  walls  of  the 
frozen  carcasses  of  the  foxes  they  had  killed  for  their 
skins.  Everywhere  swarmed  the  little  kit-foxes,  blue 
foxes,  and  white  foxes,  Eichkao  and  all  his  hungry 
family.  Those  of  the  sailors  who  died  were  devoui-ed 
by  them  almost  before  they  could  be  buried.  Other 
little  huts  they  made  of  driftwood  and  foxes,  their 
floors  dug  out  of  the  sand.  And  the  foxes  who  were 
alive  snapped  and  snai'led  about  the  houses  made  of 
the  foxes  who  were  dead.  And  all  winter  long  the 
men  sought  far  and  wide  on  the  rocky  coast  for  drift- 
wood, and  dug  it  out  of  the  ten  feet  of  snow  under 
which  it  was  buried. 

The  Commander  Bering,  still  helpless,  was  placed 
in  one  of  these  huts.  The  vessel  when  he  had  left  it 
was  beached  by  a  storm,  and  the  crew  dragged  it  up 
into  the  sand  where  it  lay  all  winter.  The  little 
blue  fox,  the  most  greedy  and  selfish  of  beasts,  hung 
around  the  camp  the  winter  long,  attacking  the  sick 
and  devouring  the  dead,  almost  before  the  eyes  of 
their  friends.  Of  the  seventy-seven,  thirty-one  died, 
among  them  Bering  himself.  "  He  was,"  Steller  said, 
"  buried  alive ;  the  sand  kept  constantly  rolling  down 
upon   him   fi'om  the   sides    of  the   pit  and   covered 


HOW  THE  COMMANDER  SAILED.  257 

his  feet.  At  first  this  was  removed,  but  finally  he 
asked  that  it  might  remain,  as  it  furnished  him  a  little 
of  the  warmth  he  so  sorely  needed.  Soon  half  his 
body  was  under  the  sand  and  his  comrades  had  to  dig 
him  out  to  give  him  a  decent  burial." 

So  perished  the  great  Commander  at  the  age  of 
sixty  years.  The  island  where  he  died  has  ever 
since  then  been  called  Bering  Island.  The  twin 
"  Storm  Islands,"  Bering  and  Medni  (Copper)  Islands, 
have  been  called  for  him  Komandorski,  the  Islands  of 
the  Commander,  and  the  great  Icy  Sea  is  known  as 
Bering  Sea.  And  his  Kfe  and  work,  says  Lauridsen, 
will  ever  stand  as  "  a  living  testimony  of  what  north- 
em  perseverance  is  able  to  accomplish  even  with  the 
most  humble  means." 

In  the  spring  of  1742,  Steller  and  the  rest  made 
of  the  wreck  of  the  St.  Peter  an  open  boat,  in  which 
they  traversed  the  one  hundred  and  fifty  miles  of  the 
Icy  Sea  between  Bering  Island  and  Petropaulski,  and 
if  we  should  follow  them  further  we  should  only 
bring  them  into  deeper  trouble.  Their  friends  at 
Petropaulski  had  divided  and  spent  all  the  prop- 
erty they  had  left.  When  they  went  back  in  pov- 
erty to  Russia,  some  rival  accused  Steller  of  having 
sold  powder  to  enemies  of  the  Czar.     Sent  back  to 


258  THE  BOOK  OF  KNIGHT  AND  BARBARA. 

Siberia  for  trial,  he  had  to  ride  in  an  open  sleigh 
drawn  by  dogs.  His  guards  went  one  night  into  a 
wayside  inn,  leaving  him  outside  in  the  sleigh  to  fall 
asleep  with  weariness.  When  they  came  out  warmed 
and  filled,  Steller  w^as  frozen  to  death.  Thus  died  in 
his  thirty-fifth  year  one  of  the  most  devoted  of  natu- 
ralists and  bravest  of  men,  and  his  work  was  made 
known  through  the  hands  of  others. 

For  a  long  time,  at  Bering  Island,  Steller  and  his 
men  did  not  dare  to  touch  the  bones  of  the  Kussian 
ship,  for  the  Czar  who  owned  the  St.  Peter  is  swift  to 
punish  any  injury  to  his  property.  But  they  feared 
the  knout  less  than  they  feared  death  by  storm  and 
starvation.  So  in  the  name  of  the  Czar,  Steller  con- 
demned the  St.  Peter  as  no  longer  seaworthy,  released 
her  from  the  Kussian  service,  and  then  his  men  made 
a  little  boat  out  of  the  wreck  that  remained. 

Their  stay  on  Bering  Island  is  forever  famous 
for  the  discovery  of  the  "  four  great  beasts "  of  the 
sea,  on  the  account  of  which  Steller's  fame  as  a  natu- 
ralist rests.  These  were  the  Sea  Cow,  the  Sea  Otter, 
the  Sea  Lion,  and  the  Sea  Bear. 

In  the  giant  kelp  which  grows  on  all  the  sunken 
reefs,  like  the  tawny  mane  of  some  huge  animal,  the 
sea  cow  had  her  home.     A  huge,  blundering,  harm- 


HOW  THE  COMMANDER  SAILED.  259 

less  beast,  feeding  on  kelp,  shaped  like  a  whale  in 
body,  but  with  a  cow-hke  head,  a  split  upper  lip,  and 
a  homely,  amiable  appearance,  as  befits  a  beast  who 
looks  like  an  ogre  and  feeds  like  a  cow.  The  crea- 
ture was  forty  feet  in  length,  and  weighed  about 
three  tons.  Bering's  men  soon  found  that  the  sea 
cow  made  good  sea-steaks.  They  lived  on  her  meat, 
and  the  sailors  who  came  after  them  in  years  to  come 
devoured  and  destroyed  them  all.  The  last  sea  cow 
was  killed  in  1768,  and  its  bones  are  now  among  the 
treasures  of  the  great  museums,  the  greatest  number  of 
them  being  in  the  National  Museum  at  Washington. 

Next  came  the  sea  otter,  a  creature  as  large  as  a 
big  dog,  with  long  gray  fur,  the  finest  of  all  fur  for 
cloaks  and  overcoats.  The  sea  otter  lived  in  the 
sea  about  the  islands,  the  female  swimming  around  in 
the  kelp,  with  her  young  in  her  arms,  and  making 
long  trips  from  place  to  place  in  search  of  food.  A 
shy,  timid,  suspicious  creature,  the  sea  otter  is  hard 
to  kill  and  easy  to  drive  away ;  and  of  the  countless 
millions  which  existed  in  Steller's  time  only  a  few 
hundred  remain. 

The  great  gray  sea  lion  was  a  ponderous  beast 
like  the  fur  seal  in  figure  and  habits,  but  much  larger, 
the  male  weighing  almost  a  ton.     His  huge  head  is 


260  THE  BOOK  OF  KNIGHT  AND  BARBARA. 

like  that  of  a  St.  Bernard  dog,  and  his  roar  is  one  of 
the  grandest  sounds  on  earth.  It  is  a  rich,  mellow 
double  bass,  like  the  voice  of  a  mighty  organ,  and  it 
can  be  heard  for  miles.  The  female  is  much  smaller, 
also  yellowish  gray  in  color,  and  she  too  has  a  rich 
bass  voice,  an  octave  higher  than  that  of  the  male. 
When  a  herd  of  sea  lions  are  driven  into  the  sea,  they 
will  rise  out  of  the  surf  at  once  and  all  together,  roar- 
ing in  melody.  Such  a  wonderful  chorus  can  be 
heard  nowhere  else  on  earth,  and  it  is  no  wonder 
that  the  lion  of  the  sea  made  a  great  impression  on 
Steller.  The  sea  lions  live  in  families  on  the  rocks, 
where  the  males  iight  for  supremacy,  often  over- 
turning huge  boulders  in  their  struggles.  The  young 
are  cinnamon-colored,  and  when  they  are  bom  they 
look  much  like  female  fur  seals,  and  are  almost  as 
large.  And  when  the  old  males  are  fighting  they 
toddle  away,  and  if  they  do  not  they  are  crushed 
under  the  rocks  that  are  rolled  about,  or  else  tram- 
pled on  by  huge,  flappy  feet. 

Most  interesting  of  all  the  great  beasts  of  the  sea 
was  the  one  Steller  called  the  sea  bear — or,  as  men 
now  call  it,  the  "  fur  seal." 

These  creatures  came  on  shore  by  the  thousands 
on  the  west  coast  of  Bering  Island  when  the  ice  left 


HOW  THE  COMMANDER  SAILED.  261 

the  shores  in  the  spring.  They  made  their  homes 
on  the  rocks  of  Poludionnoye,  a  great  city  of  beasts 
each  year  rising  from  the  sea. 

But  the  story  of  how  the  beachmasters  and 
their  families  behave  on  Bering  and  Medni  and  St. 
Paul  and  St.  George  and  Robben,  has  been  many 
times  told  and  in  many  ways,  so  I  need  not  give  it 
here. 

But  we  can  imagine  how  Steller  looked  down  on 
the  slopes  of  Poludionnoye,  and  saw  the  old  beach- 
masters  roar  and  groan  and  weep  and  blow  out  their 
musky  breath,  as  they  fought  for  supremacy.  We 
can  see  with  him  the  trim  ranks  of  sleek  and  dainty 
Matkas  tripping  up  the  beach  as  they  come  back 
from  the  long  swim.  We  can  imagine  the  great 
groups  of  snug  Kotiks  that  clustered  about  the  war- 
ring beachmasters,  while  along  the  shores  up  and 
down  wandered  and  played  the  hosts  of  young  bach- 
elors eager  to  keep  near  the  homes,  but  afraid  to 
enter  them  till  their  wigs  and  tusks  were  grown. 
We  can  see  them  in  countless  hosts,  trooping,  play- 
ing, sleeping  on  the  sands,  reckless  of  drives,  and  un- 
harmed by  clubs,  and  we  can  understand  the  splen- 
did enthusiasm  with  which  the  discoverer  of  all  these 
things  wrote  of  the  four  great  "  Beasts  of  the  Sea." 


262  THE  BOOK  OF  KNIGHT  AND  BARBARA. 

And  as  for  Bering,  the  Commander,  as  a  recompense 
for  all  pain  and  disappointment  and  loss  stands  the 
fact  that  he  was  the  first.  His  for  all  time  are  the 
twin  Storm  Islands,  where  the  St.  Peter  was  wrecked, 
and  Bering's  forever  shall  be  the  Icy  Sea.  And  all 
who  go  there  shall  do  homage  to  the  name  and  fame 
of  the  great  Commander,  and  aU  who  love  the  huge 
beasts  of  the  sea  will  remember  the  naturalist  who 
first  saw  them  and  who  first  told  their  story. 


.i.TrnrSlifefgS^..  mitfUf 


Medni  Island,  as  seen  from  Tolstoi  Mys  where  Bering  died. 


CAPE   CHEERFUL. 

"  When  you  shall  come  to  a  great  cliff  standing  northward  from  Ma- 
kushin,  the  Volcano,  and  rent  almost  from  base  to  summit  and  from  the 
midst  of  which  leaps  the  tumultuous  Waterfall  sheer  into  the  Sea,  then, 
the  fog  lifting,  you  will  leave  the  cliff  well  to  Starboard,  and  enter  a  land- 
locked haven  called  Captain's  Harbor,  for  that  I  did  once  ride  out  the 
winter  there.  Whence  is  this  Headland  with  the  Waterfall  called  '  Cape 
Cheerful.'" — Log  book  attributable  to  Captain  Cook,  Unalaska,  1778. 

TTOMEWAKD   bound   from   the   Storm   Islands 
through  the  sullen  Icy  Sea  ; 

On  our  lee 
Rise  the  savage,  swart  Smoke  Islands  which  defy 

Sea  and  sky, 
Hurling  back  the  \vaves  insistent  from  their  boulder- 
cumbered  shore. 

Evermore. 
All  at  once  the  drifting  cloud-rack  seems  to  fall 

Like  a  wall, 

And  the  twin  Smoke  Islands  vanish  as  a  specter  of 

the  night 

From  our  sight, 

While  the  ship  still  plunges  onward,  fog-bound  in 

the  Icy  Sea. 

Suddenly, 

18  263 


264  THE  BOOK  OF  KNIGHT   AXD  BARBARA. 

As  the  light  is  slowly  failing — the  long  twilight  of 

the  North — 

Rises  forth, 

As  though  shattering  the  cloud-rack  grim*  and  tall, 

The  lava- wall 
Of  the  shapeless  huge  Moss  Island  with  her  eai-th- 
quake-riven  cliff ; 

Through  the  rift. 
Like  a  swift-spun  skein  of  silv^er,  springs  intact 

The  cataract 

From  the  black  basaltic  buttress  prone  into  the  Icy 

Sea; 

Joyfully 

Does  it  join  the  tumbling  billows,  while  its  spray 

Drifts  away 

With  the  east  wind  to  the  leeward.     Banished  now 

is  every  fear. 

All  is  clear, 

For  we  know  the  cape  called  Cheerful,  and  it  tells 

the  haven  near. 

Sometimes   like   the  surly   ocean   seems   the  weary 

course  of  life : 

Doubt  and  stnfe 

Hide  the  way  I  fain  would  follow :  can  I  know 

What  to  do  ? 


CAPE  CHEERFUL.  265 

Slowly  down  my  path  I  wander,  sore-perplexed, 

Spirit-vexed, 
By  the  cloud-rack  of  conventions  o'er  us  all. 

Like  a  pall ; 

Thus  with  downcast  eyes  and  sombre  come  I  to  the 

garden  gate. 

Swift  and  straight, 

Leaping  from  a  bank  of  roses,  like  a  fetterless  cas- 
cade, 

Unafraid 

Rush  the  children  forth  to  greet  me  with  a  joyous 
shout  of  cheer. 

Banished  now  is  all  convention,  all  vexation,  and  con- 
tention, 

All  is  clear : 

I  have  found  the  cape  called  "  Cheerful," 
And  I  know  the  haven  near. 

H.  M.  S.  Pheasant, 

Off  Cape  Cheerful,  Unalaska, 
September  1,  1896. 


THE   END. 


JohA.J..Zz..    Date „..„._ 

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